Music is an integral part of life. It expresses emotions, changes emotions, lights up lives, and can represent challenge where there is supposedly no room fo resistance. Jewish slaves in German camps would hum Yiddish tunes, religious prayers, as they passed by guards. In the harshest of times songs flourished that expressed the emotions, hopes and fears of that time.
The passing of the writer of "I Love Rock and Roll" hit me, for I remember that song: the defiance it represented, the importance of music to our lives that it implied. Music can hold a nation together so there is a definite lack today of that music, that binding piece of inspired writing that would hit us all in our hearts. Where is it? Buried deep within the divisions of the country as we suffer under the double whammy of a pandemic of mammoth proportions and an incompetent leadership at the top.
"Lies, tell me lies, tell me lies..." Yes, perhaps that song could be the anthem of the pandemic, though it does reinforce the negativity and mistrust rampant in the nation, so nope, will not do. "The day the music died..." Will that do? Nope, for I certainly hope that music never dies for then humanity will be no longer, having lost its soul. Another blogger suggested "The Rocking Pneumonia" but that will not do as it plays down the seriousness, the deathly gravity of this coronavirus. We need to remember that seriousness, that fatal error so easy to do, to challenge the rules, transfer the virus to others and die. Yes, die. Or cause others to die. And how does one sing about that?
So what does one do? Do we imagine a stamp of "cancelled" on our foreheads meaning life cancelled, at least as we knew it so few months ago? Do we give in? Or do we play it smart, take the hits now in our lives, as difficult as they are, and buy a better future for, if not for ourselves, at least for the kids. There is talk of a Gen C, for babies born during and perhaps because of this virus and home restrictions, and the talk includes the differences of their lives as compared to ours. Yes, there will be many, for the safety of people precautions, but, a huge but, we must keep an eversharp eye on the political climes of the day and insist on keeping our liberty, our democracy, our gestalt as America.
What we do not need are the rigors and hardships of the past three and a half years. We should not need to have courts fight to hold the executive branch to the limitations of the Constitution. Even as the full Mueller Report is now in the hands of the court, why is this still playing out? Why is there the disgusting reek of corruption even attached to the name of Barr as he misreported, shall we say, on that Report? This is a tremendous piece of history, a world changing event possibility and yet it is consigned back to the closet for the courts are on recess till April 20 and possibly beyond. So, in a way, that cancelled stamp is both relevant and applicable. How sad for us, as individuals and as a country.
Thus the country is at sixes and sevens and not the least of all factors, governing, causing and growing this uncertainty and confusion is the man supposedly at the top, Trump. This is the man who accuses his accusers of "not being nice" or out to "get ya" even as he uses racial memes, encourages his aides to physically grapple with unfavored reporters insisting on the truth, and states bold stupidities as words of wisdom.
Contrary to his words, backed up by unfortunate truths, the response of his administration is not "fantastic" nor encouraging. Even as Fauci and other experts state they "explained" the material several times before they received the proper response, Trump keeps insisting on the wrong language. Accusing the hospitals of somehow, for some esoteric reason , of hiding ventilators and respirators, of hoarding masks from their personnel, - the man is nuts, pure and simple. He is demented, this, the man running the country.
His advice is to "ride it through" be like "cowboys", even as the date of what, the roundup, changes from two days to a week, to a month, to a month and a half and now two months, till June 1 when, I guess, like magic, all will be well, all sick swept under the rug and life resumes. Well, some people had better do a whole lotta thinking before we fall deep down into an evergrowing hole and we lose over 2 million of our population. Anybody eager to bang this into a thick skull? Thought so.
So yes, the music has temporarily died; there is no theme song written for these times. I certainly hope one will be, as we so desperately need something, even a song, to build our unity and our sanity, to reinforce our optimism, our hopes, in a confused time. In the meanwhile, hang in there, isolate, wash those hands, be well and stay safe.
Tuesday, March 31, 2020
Monday, March 30, 2020
REALLY AND TRULY NO KIDDING
Evidently it takes a known person falling ill to make it real to Trump, but also evidently, it is not enough for him to shut his stupid mouth and let the experts run the show. There are so many inexperienced, brain short people running around in this particular kitchen that the broth is either undercooked or overboiled, total results being that the broth is not served and people go hungry. Sum total of aid given at the right moment, to the right place, in the right condition? Negative numbers indeed.
How many more times are we to listen to this man blow hot air, boasting of his accomplishments, changing his stories from minute to minute never mind even reaching week to week. He has alienated every sector of government and private industry, proven his incompetence at running a crisis racked country, and remains a television ratings driven person, still thinking in terms that mean nothing to the people dying in hospitals, alone in their rooms, as couples divide, as couples make plans three and four layers deep as to whom exactly will care for their children should both die in this pandemic, especially if both parents are medical or aid or even grocery personnel. So much for the truth, for this man denies it all and remains mired in some lala land that only he and his benighted followers still see.
This is much to our detriment, as more and more of us fall victim to the virus and more die as time goes on. We are not making progress, no matter how much this fool pushes a medicine unproven for the virus, now in short supply for those who actually need it for other diseases or rants on about new tests that never materialize. New testing centers are being set up by localities left alone to swim or sink and thank the Lord Above that more of them are proving more competent than the ostensible leader who is aping the march of the Pied Piper rather than the victory march we so desperately need.
As my nephew now falls ill and remains in quarantine, as his family is left in a void as to the future, we need to walk on the really and truly line if we are to make it through this mess. We need to stop allowing the inmates to run this country. We need to stop listening to the hot air and nonsense spewing forth from the mouths of those who are worse than ignorant. We need to understand the depth of this mess, the time wrenching changes it already has made and the new world, the After, that is coming or rather already here. We need to alter our thinkng, our planning if we are to recover as time goes on. We need to plan for a world more inundated with these threats even as we see that the skies are clearer now, proof that industry does pollute and we need to do something about that. Regulations must return. Care for humanity must return. Aid must be given for long term recovery and survival for this crisis is with us for the long run.
Most of all we need to behave as thinking and rational adults, beings, who understand the inportance of every step taken or not taken as we battle for our survival. Really and truly, no kidding at all, we need to dig deep into our reserves, personal and otherwise, souls and pockets, if we are to remain viable as the world and society we now have, along with deep changes, changes for the better, one hopes - and prays. We need to choose our leaders with more discernment. We need to look deep within the hearts and minds of those who put themselves forth and see if they actually are helpful or just greedy, selfish, hungry for power. This is true for all countries of the world for none is immune.
There was an old show that contained a song within it, the song called Ben Adam - Son of Man. It opened with these lines:
Ben Adam, Ben Adam,
Son of Man, Son of Man
Lend your brother your hand
Tayn yad el yad.
Obviously it is a mixture of Hebrew and English, what we need today. We need a mix, a good one, one that invigorates the positive and downplays the negative, one that works rather than instigates. Can we come up with such a mix? Can we follow the pleas of the song? I hope so, for otherwise more will fall, more will die, the aftereffects, the traumas, will continue and if we are not careful the underlying foundations of society can be shattered. That is not what we want. Or is it exactly that for some as they calulate foolishly, coldly, and dangerously, what they estimate they can profit from and by. It is upon us to find the right mix, the correct approach, the real and true one - all kidding aside. Only then will that stew, that broth be edible, sustaining and nourishing body, mind, heart and soul.
I pray for that time. May we reach it soon. May we all learn from this crisis and may we all stay safe and well. Remember your neighbors and be mindful of their needs as well. Leave selfishness out in the cold. Let goodness flow in. That is the only path we need to remember for all else will follow.
How many more times are we to listen to this man blow hot air, boasting of his accomplishments, changing his stories from minute to minute never mind even reaching week to week. He has alienated every sector of government and private industry, proven his incompetence at running a crisis racked country, and remains a television ratings driven person, still thinking in terms that mean nothing to the people dying in hospitals, alone in their rooms, as couples divide, as couples make plans three and four layers deep as to whom exactly will care for their children should both die in this pandemic, especially if both parents are medical or aid or even grocery personnel. So much for the truth, for this man denies it all and remains mired in some lala land that only he and his benighted followers still see.
This is much to our detriment, as more and more of us fall victim to the virus and more die as time goes on. We are not making progress, no matter how much this fool pushes a medicine unproven for the virus, now in short supply for those who actually need it for other diseases or rants on about new tests that never materialize. New testing centers are being set up by localities left alone to swim or sink and thank the Lord Above that more of them are proving more competent than the ostensible leader who is aping the march of the Pied Piper rather than the victory march we so desperately need.
As my nephew now falls ill and remains in quarantine, as his family is left in a void as to the future, we need to walk on the really and truly line if we are to make it through this mess. We need to stop allowing the inmates to run this country. We need to stop listening to the hot air and nonsense spewing forth from the mouths of those who are worse than ignorant. We need to understand the depth of this mess, the time wrenching changes it already has made and the new world, the After, that is coming or rather already here. We need to alter our thinkng, our planning if we are to recover as time goes on. We need to plan for a world more inundated with these threats even as we see that the skies are clearer now, proof that industry does pollute and we need to do something about that. Regulations must return. Care for humanity must return. Aid must be given for long term recovery and survival for this crisis is with us for the long run.
Most of all we need to behave as thinking and rational adults, beings, who understand the inportance of every step taken or not taken as we battle for our survival. Really and truly, no kidding at all, we need to dig deep into our reserves, personal and otherwise, souls and pockets, if we are to remain viable as the world and society we now have, along with deep changes, changes for the better, one hopes - and prays. We need to choose our leaders with more discernment. We need to look deep within the hearts and minds of those who put themselves forth and see if they actually are helpful or just greedy, selfish, hungry for power. This is true for all countries of the world for none is immune.
There was an old show that contained a song within it, the song called Ben Adam - Son of Man. It opened with these lines:
Ben Adam, Ben Adam,
Son of Man, Son of Man
Lend your brother your hand
Tayn yad el yad.
Obviously it is a mixture of Hebrew and English, what we need today. We need a mix, a good one, one that invigorates the positive and downplays the negative, one that works rather than instigates. Can we come up with such a mix? Can we follow the pleas of the song? I hope so, for otherwise more will fall, more will die, the aftereffects, the traumas, will continue and if we are not careful the underlying foundations of society can be shattered. That is not what we want. Or is it exactly that for some as they calulate foolishly, coldly, and dangerously, what they estimate they can profit from and by. It is upon us to find the right mix, the correct approach, the real and true one - all kidding aside. Only then will that stew, that broth be edible, sustaining and nourishing body, mind, heart and soul.
I pray for that time. May we reach it soon. May we all learn from this crisis and may we all stay safe and well. Remember your neighbors and be mindful of their needs as well. Leave selfishness out in the cold. Let goodness flow in. That is the only path we need to remember for all else will follow.
Sunday, March 29, 2020
WALKING THE LINE
There are lines in life. We are always walking them, or crossing them, sometimes a good thing and other times not so much. Life is often a struggle trying to figue out where the edges of these lines are and what happens when one goes past those edges. Without experiments about that, humanity would never have moved forward, but when done carelessly and without forethought, well, look what we now have.
Yesterday, in one of the many books I have been reading of late, there was a line: "Pray for me." That was a good request and not a bad idea. We need to pray that those in charge are truly in charge, but in a positive manner. We need strong leaders who, when not there, are leading us not into temptation, but into massive waves and inundations of terror, of panic, of confusion and of death and destruction.
Yesterday, last night, I read of a wonderful doctor who has helped many, whom I know, principaled his children, who is lying in an ICU hooked to machines. It is one thing when it is out there, as you praise yourself for being so good and adaptive as you molder in isolation, as you miss your family, but to hear of a real consequence in terms of life and death - well, that is a horse of a different color. Depression descended upon me.
The global death toll is over 30,000 and climbing with no end in sight. This virus is resilient and strong. It is determined to hang around and jump right in when an opportunity presents itself. There apparently is no escape and sometimes it feels as if we are simply sitting around, waiting for it to hit us, even as life is shutting down around us. Making a decision for a run to the store for groceries has now become a life and death situation. Wear gloves or wash right after or do both? Wear the mask again or even wear one if one has one? How close to be in line and what about the person behind you who edges up too close? Do you help that stumbling young mother with the three kids holding on to her legs?
There are good moments that we must cherish, recognize for what they are. A parade of cars, honking, with cheering people inside - a parade of teachers in their cars rolling through the neighborhoods of their students, reminding them they are not forgotten, still cherished. Heartwarming and important. As we distance ourselves physically we must draw closer emotionally and socially in as many safe ways that we can. Without that tie, that line of humanity, we will have lost that line, crossed over into there be dragons territory, certainly not a good place to be.
Yet even as we conform to new rules of life, to new lines to be trodden, we must watch out for other lines, ones that divide, one that are frightening in their future possibilities. These are the lines that are separating us as a people, that are causing us to forget that we are a nation united, the United States of America. Unfortunately, for the past three years we have basically been told to forget that idea, that we are actually divided into growing 'stans' of differences. Just yesterday I read an article wherein one expert whom I admire wrote of a huge change within the next couple of years if we forget who we are. I have been writing of that possiblity for months already and truly hate the I told you so I am entitled to say. I would rather we turned the other way, reached over to the correct line, the unity line and stay on it.
Life has changed all over the world. All countries, be it Venezuela or Hungary or Bangladesh or England or America, we have all changed. Are we to come through this crisis as whole people, or are we to be maimed, missing essential ideas of unity, of humanity? Can and will we work together to fight against this resurgent virus and others to come, for certainly, that is a certainty. Just as this was, just as Trump refused to acknowledge that, as he closed any and all agencies prepared to handle and plan for this, just as he is now scaring the bejeezus out of many as he stresses his "military" presidency. G-d help us if he follows through on that, invoking that and calling the troops into the streets of the nation, cordoning off the WH as he refuses to leave after he loses the election - and oh, boy, must he lose!! Our very future depends on that result.
"These are the times that try mens' souls."
" It is the best of times. It is the worst of times."
"No man is an island."
"Do not go gentle into that good night."
The lines of inspiration and pleadings are there, not difficult to find but perhaps difficult to act upon. Only we can do this. Only we can pull the world back from the edges of isolation, of peril, of fracturing and back onto a firmer, wider line that will guide us to where we need to be, where we need to go. So yes, pray for us, and then act upon that prayer. Stay the distance. Challenge the depression and despair, the bleakness of a might be not so good future. Yes, there will be, no doubt about it, a Before and an After. We are already deep into that change, but it can also be what we make of it - or what we prevent.
Here is an old Welsh inscription that might help one to get back firmly on the line of hope, of a good After.
"The sun on the hill forgot to die, and the lilies revived, and the dragonfly came back to dream on the river."
We all await that day. We all need to work towards that day. We all need to stay safe, stay well, keep to the lines of humanity and hope, of optimism, of life.
Yesterday, in one of the many books I have been reading of late, there was a line: "Pray for me." That was a good request and not a bad idea. We need to pray that those in charge are truly in charge, but in a positive manner. We need strong leaders who, when not there, are leading us not into temptation, but into massive waves and inundations of terror, of panic, of confusion and of death and destruction.
Yesterday, last night, I read of a wonderful doctor who has helped many, whom I know, principaled his children, who is lying in an ICU hooked to machines. It is one thing when it is out there, as you praise yourself for being so good and adaptive as you molder in isolation, as you miss your family, but to hear of a real consequence in terms of life and death - well, that is a horse of a different color. Depression descended upon me.
The global death toll is over 30,000 and climbing with no end in sight. This virus is resilient and strong. It is determined to hang around and jump right in when an opportunity presents itself. There apparently is no escape and sometimes it feels as if we are simply sitting around, waiting for it to hit us, even as life is shutting down around us. Making a decision for a run to the store for groceries has now become a life and death situation. Wear gloves or wash right after or do both? Wear the mask again or even wear one if one has one? How close to be in line and what about the person behind you who edges up too close? Do you help that stumbling young mother with the three kids holding on to her legs?
There are good moments that we must cherish, recognize for what they are. A parade of cars, honking, with cheering people inside - a parade of teachers in their cars rolling through the neighborhoods of their students, reminding them they are not forgotten, still cherished. Heartwarming and important. As we distance ourselves physically we must draw closer emotionally and socially in as many safe ways that we can. Without that tie, that line of humanity, we will have lost that line, crossed over into there be dragons territory, certainly not a good place to be.
Yet even as we conform to new rules of life, to new lines to be trodden, we must watch out for other lines, ones that divide, one that are frightening in their future possibilities. These are the lines that are separating us as a people, that are causing us to forget that we are a nation united, the United States of America. Unfortunately, for the past three years we have basically been told to forget that idea, that we are actually divided into growing 'stans' of differences. Just yesterday I read an article wherein one expert whom I admire wrote of a huge change within the next couple of years if we forget who we are. I have been writing of that possiblity for months already and truly hate the I told you so I am entitled to say. I would rather we turned the other way, reached over to the correct line, the unity line and stay on it.
Life has changed all over the world. All countries, be it Venezuela or Hungary or Bangladesh or England or America, we have all changed. Are we to come through this crisis as whole people, or are we to be maimed, missing essential ideas of unity, of humanity? Can and will we work together to fight against this resurgent virus and others to come, for certainly, that is a certainty. Just as this was, just as Trump refused to acknowledge that, as he closed any and all agencies prepared to handle and plan for this, just as he is now scaring the bejeezus out of many as he stresses his "military" presidency. G-d help us if he follows through on that, invoking that and calling the troops into the streets of the nation, cordoning off the WH as he refuses to leave after he loses the election - and oh, boy, must he lose!! Our very future depends on that result.
"These are the times that try mens' souls."
" It is the best of times. It is the worst of times."
"No man is an island."
"Do not go gentle into that good night."
The lines of inspiration and pleadings are there, not difficult to find but perhaps difficult to act upon. Only we can do this. Only we can pull the world back from the edges of isolation, of peril, of fracturing and back onto a firmer, wider line that will guide us to where we need to be, where we need to go. So yes, pray for us, and then act upon that prayer. Stay the distance. Challenge the depression and despair, the bleakness of a might be not so good future. Yes, there will be, no doubt about it, a Before and an After. We are already deep into that change, but it can also be what we make of it - or what we prevent.
Here is an old Welsh inscription that might help one to get back firmly on the line of hope, of a good After.
"The sun on the hill forgot to die, and the lilies revived, and the dragonfly came back to dream on the river."
We all await that day. We all need to work towards that day. We all need to stay safe, stay well, keep to the lines of humanity and hope, of optimism, of life.
Friday, March 27, 2020
REALITY APOCALYPSE
As a fan of apocalyptic shows, movies and novels, I now stare at the screen and look out the window and wonder if this time the apocalypse is real. No Thunderdome. No crazed and crazy gangs organized in brutal turfs. Yet there is an echo here of all of it.
Here in America we have idiots who have coronavirus parties and of course come down sick, draining supplies from others. We have foolish people who go to the beaches in mobs and even more foolish governors who did not ban that from happening. We also have the first stretch of expanding lines between the states of the United States as one state bans another from citizen crossings. Will it all devolve into little 'stans' American style a la shows such as Jericho, or Walking Dead which is not about zombies by the way. It is about man and development of a new civilization in the face of previously unknown circumstances. And we sure do not come out great!
We have this isolation on larger scales as countries ban foreigners from entering, as they ban exports of possibly needed supplies, as we hunker down worldwide and go into isolationism on crack! Truthfully, it can be understood as survival is a natural instinct, but we must stand taller than that and realize that only through worldwide cooperation and sharing of brains and resources, will we make it through this pandemic and somehow, at some time hopefully in the near future, lead us back to the Before, but with better creds, stupidity cancelled and hope once again in plentiful supply. Think we can do it? Hmmmm...
Meanwhile, back at the ranch of the WH, we have that reality TV star pulling down on his creds as he stages nightly chats from the Rose Garden, relating all sorts of home grown stories, all meant to boost his ratings, show his 'kinder' side, if there really is one and I highly doubt that! We are told ridiculous stories of miracles - that never happened - as he continues to lead Americans astray and waste our resources. He thinks he is the new FDR in updated fireside chats, but wow, is there a difference in attitudes, in trust, in loyalty, in devotion to the people and yes, FDR was not perfect, certainly not with the Jewish refugees, but he did help the people in the USA. Trump has not. Will never do so. It is not within his genetic structure to care for others, to help others, but always to find the point that will help him, get money for him and his blasted family.
In the meanwhile, even as the bailout was supposed to be passed, we have a Republican, of course, Massie, who is scuttling the whole thing. Senators are racing back to DC to fix the mess, but watchout for the market today at opening. One wonders when, if ever, will we stop with this nonsense and finally pull together as a nation. Other nations seem to have done this in the crisis so what is the matter with us here?
The plague, and yes, it is that, is spreadng. We have over 1,000 dead and climbing as the virus spreads exponentially. The few remaining experts in the government are demeaned as they try to show the true science of it all even as the moron continues on his benighted ridiculous dangerous path. See, he is protected while we are not. So why not get out there and play the hero? Because he is most emphatically NOT a hero. Ever. Never.
Instead, even as the one good part of this pandemic grows, the improvement of the air quality, even now, Trump et al are taking advantage of the emergency times and relaxing safety regulations, suspending them, so as to allow more pollution back in the air from plants and factories, as we still have sweetheart deals in the bailout bill. Will we ever learn? It seems the answer to that is a great resounding and despairing NO.
So as the world huddles in their respective homes, as the homeless have no homes to hide in, as the sick are growing in number, as we lose touch with our families just when we need them the most, the fools in every leading capital of the world continue to fight over petty items, continue their partisanship, pick petty arguments and as here, forget that we are all members of the same country, the same world, all members of the human race.
So what do we have here, in essence? We have a test of the human race. Weird nature and being almost Passover, I am kind of looking around waiting for the first news of water turning red, to blood or something similar, to plagues of locusts, lice, and hopping frogs all over the place.
Seriously, G-d promised He would never again destroy us with huge floods but guess what? He did not prohibit human caused flooding, with human stupidity, or with partial destruction and for proof of that, just look around the world. Take a good, long, insightful, realistic look. Then ask yourself: have we truly made great progress in our humanity or are we all puffed up about tallest buildings, about cleaning out that homeless encampment that is bothering the fatcats who live in their former buildings redone, talking up fast cars even as public transportation is crumbling, neglecting the weaker members of society, the needy, the kids, the victims of domesetic violence. The list can go on, but is it not time that we do something about it.
We need to take this time to think, evaluate, measure, and try new techniques, new methods. We need to stop the most backward opinion here that a woman cannot be president. Why not? Even Third World countries have done so as have great countries of the West as well. Women have a different point of view, think differently, are far more practical than men and know that playing favorites does not work in the long term. So let us applaud Biden's promise, his short list of some very talented and capable women. Let us take this apocalypse in reality to the edge of that growing abyss and trash it!!
We need to insure that we do not have a bad After. We need to take from the Before, fix it, meld the good with the plans of the After. Perhaps, just perhaps, we will have learned how to do things the right way, how to go about fixing our broken world, how to tamp down hatred and prejudices. Maybe. Just maybe.
Here in America we have idiots who have coronavirus parties and of course come down sick, draining supplies from others. We have foolish people who go to the beaches in mobs and even more foolish governors who did not ban that from happening. We also have the first stretch of expanding lines between the states of the United States as one state bans another from citizen crossings. Will it all devolve into little 'stans' American style a la shows such as Jericho, or Walking Dead which is not about zombies by the way. It is about man and development of a new civilization in the face of previously unknown circumstances. And we sure do not come out great!
We have this isolation on larger scales as countries ban foreigners from entering, as they ban exports of possibly needed supplies, as we hunker down worldwide and go into isolationism on crack! Truthfully, it can be understood as survival is a natural instinct, but we must stand taller than that and realize that only through worldwide cooperation and sharing of brains and resources, will we make it through this pandemic and somehow, at some time hopefully in the near future, lead us back to the Before, but with better creds, stupidity cancelled and hope once again in plentiful supply. Think we can do it? Hmmmm...
Meanwhile, back at the ranch of the WH, we have that reality TV star pulling down on his creds as he stages nightly chats from the Rose Garden, relating all sorts of home grown stories, all meant to boost his ratings, show his 'kinder' side, if there really is one and I highly doubt that! We are told ridiculous stories of miracles - that never happened - as he continues to lead Americans astray and waste our resources. He thinks he is the new FDR in updated fireside chats, but wow, is there a difference in attitudes, in trust, in loyalty, in devotion to the people and yes, FDR was not perfect, certainly not with the Jewish refugees, but he did help the people in the USA. Trump has not. Will never do so. It is not within his genetic structure to care for others, to help others, but always to find the point that will help him, get money for him and his blasted family.
In the meanwhile, even as the bailout was supposed to be passed, we have a Republican, of course, Massie, who is scuttling the whole thing. Senators are racing back to DC to fix the mess, but watchout for the market today at opening. One wonders when, if ever, will we stop with this nonsense and finally pull together as a nation. Other nations seem to have done this in the crisis so what is the matter with us here?
The plague, and yes, it is that, is spreadng. We have over 1,000 dead and climbing as the virus spreads exponentially. The few remaining experts in the government are demeaned as they try to show the true science of it all even as the moron continues on his benighted ridiculous dangerous path. See, he is protected while we are not. So why not get out there and play the hero? Because he is most emphatically NOT a hero. Ever. Never.
Instead, even as the one good part of this pandemic grows, the improvement of the air quality, even now, Trump et al are taking advantage of the emergency times and relaxing safety regulations, suspending them, so as to allow more pollution back in the air from plants and factories, as we still have sweetheart deals in the bailout bill. Will we ever learn? It seems the answer to that is a great resounding and despairing NO.
So as the world huddles in their respective homes, as the homeless have no homes to hide in, as the sick are growing in number, as we lose touch with our families just when we need them the most, the fools in every leading capital of the world continue to fight over petty items, continue their partisanship, pick petty arguments and as here, forget that we are all members of the same country, the same world, all members of the human race.
So what do we have here, in essence? We have a test of the human race. Weird nature and being almost Passover, I am kind of looking around waiting for the first news of water turning red, to blood or something similar, to plagues of locusts, lice, and hopping frogs all over the place.
Seriously, G-d promised He would never again destroy us with huge floods but guess what? He did not prohibit human caused flooding, with human stupidity, or with partial destruction and for proof of that, just look around the world. Take a good, long, insightful, realistic look. Then ask yourself: have we truly made great progress in our humanity or are we all puffed up about tallest buildings, about cleaning out that homeless encampment that is bothering the fatcats who live in their former buildings redone, talking up fast cars even as public transportation is crumbling, neglecting the weaker members of society, the needy, the kids, the victims of domesetic violence. The list can go on, but is it not time that we do something about it.
We need to take this time to think, evaluate, measure, and try new techniques, new methods. We need to stop the most backward opinion here that a woman cannot be president. Why not? Even Third World countries have done so as have great countries of the West as well. Women have a different point of view, think differently, are far more practical than men and know that playing favorites does not work in the long term. So let us applaud Biden's promise, his short list of some very talented and capable women. Let us take this apocalypse in reality to the edge of that growing abyss and trash it!!
We need to insure that we do not have a bad After. We need to take from the Before, fix it, meld the good with the plans of the After. Perhaps, just perhaps, we will have learned how to do things the right way, how to go about fixing our broken world, how to tamp down hatred and prejudices. Maybe. Just maybe.
Thursday, March 26, 2020
K2 - THE MOUNTAIN, THE WARNING
7th grade English Lit class. Discussing the short story K2. Comparing the three challenges found within: Man vs. Man, Man vs. Nature, Man vs. Self. This story is applicable to so many times of a person's life, especially now during our own troubled times.
Nature has hit us with a bad one. We are rapidly falling into a pit from which we wonder if there is another way out as the climb back up seems too onerous and difficult, too hard to overcome. We ourselves have helped deepen the depth of nature's wounds by behaving in a careless manner with Nature, challenging it, crushing it, crossing the borders of it too many times and one wonders if this is the one time too many. We have ever more rapidly and voraciously chewed up nature, destroying its many blessings before we even find them.
Then we have the two categories that deal with man, other men, and the battle that often goes on within the inner depths of a person as needs, principles, and desires are weighed. Even the very question of survival arises in many instances and that is the greatest challenge of all for some. How much and for how long do we fight against the Grim Reaper? How many people must die in order for others to live?How do we make decisions that condemn people to die as we weigh needlessly short supplies and personnel? How do we look at a presumed national leader, one to whom we look for guidance, for capability to rise to the challenge - and yet that response is dead silent other than with the echo of ever increasing lies, more lies and stupidities that will cost lives. At a time when empathy is needed we get harsh statements that the economy must reopen, never mind the ensuing consequences.
We argue against each other. One party thinks that we must rescue big corporations, even as this same party did not like it when the other party did that. They wish to give money away without oversight but were finally overruled by the Dems. Thus there was a delay as the economy sank deeper and deeper into, as I once read, "a morass in our own self made abyss". Yes, we, mankind, has brought this upon itself, whatever we believe. It is a disaster manmade by man's carelessness, selfishness, blinkered eyesight and vision that never took into account the 'collateral' damage we were causing and ignoring, allowing things to deteriorate at an ever increasing rapidity.
Is this also a message from the Supreme Power, whatever name He is given? Have we allowed the classic infection of hubris to overcome our sensitivities and thinking? Do we, did we, deserve this punishment, challenging the power of man Vs. G-d, building or attempting to build, our own version of the Tower of Babel and failing, disastrously?!
We here in this country have long thought we were special, separated by oceans, friendly borders, great thinkers and leaders who thought ahead, but we have found out that these were and are false premises. WHO says that we are set to become the biggest epicenter of COVID-19, even as the numbers grow and the dead multiply. Yet there is hope. Even as some hoard, others volunteer to come out of retirement, or jump into the hot waters even as they just graduate from schools. The little guys we never paid attention to are standing stalwartly at their jobs, risking health and they, not the madman leader of ours, are keeping the economy, such as it is, going. Kudos to all of them. Shame on Trump et al.
The tantrum throwing man is demanding, mind you, that people go back to work, go to houses of prayer, all by Easter Sunday and during the holiday of Passover. The medical experts are warning against that, but the tantrum continues. He is safe within his nice little cocoon, but the rest of us? He could care less!!
And so we are caught, hoisted on our own petard. Even as we were allowed time to observe other countries and see what works and what does not, even with that blessing, we fouled up. We did have plans but we ignored them. We did have a group charged with preparing for this, but that idiot disbanded them. Then we ignored safety rules in our cities and states. The federal government took on state governments for power and the states are the ones now trying to save lives, with even GOP governors fighting the insanity of the WH.
The results? We are just about under martial law, with curfews, outside activities just about banned, growing fears that the man there in that WH will take advantage and kill the November election in one way or another, and even refuse to leave should the results of the election place him as the loser. That we talk of this in growing disturbing predictions is mind boggling.
The experts are finally facing reality and understanding that recession terminology is way wrong for this situation. We are talking a world wide Depression greater than the Great one. Countries are now hoarding their own food supplies. Trade is down to a creep and a crawl. Just imagine, just follow the arrows to the inevitable disaster on a global scale should this be allowed to happen.
How do we stop this? Way above my pay grade but then again, I never made believe I could do that. I trusted, perhaps stupidly, that the leaders of the country would rise to the challenge, accept their responsibilities responsibly. How dumb that was and is. Truly dumb. So we, the people, are going to have to force the issue, force our leaders to do their jobs. Now!
Get hold of the story. Read it and understand its eternal lessons for mankind. These are lessons that we have ignored in our haughtiness, in our supreme moments of insanity, thinking that there will never be consequences we cannot overcome or ignore. Well, we have now found out that we are wrong, are basically in the same situation as those who faced the Black Plague, cholera, and the Spanish flu and found out the true depths of their helplessness in the face of deep tragedy.
Brother, but do we have to shape up or we will be shipped out despite our objections. Heed the warnings, the points of an evergrowing crisis and now right in our own backyards. Our lives depend on our reactions and the time it takes us to ramp up those responses plus their strength against the virus. I hope. I pray. I have every double organ crossed, knocked on all wood, including my own head, and prayed some more. Join me.
Nature has hit us with a bad one. We are rapidly falling into a pit from which we wonder if there is another way out as the climb back up seems too onerous and difficult, too hard to overcome. We ourselves have helped deepen the depth of nature's wounds by behaving in a careless manner with Nature, challenging it, crushing it, crossing the borders of it too many times and one wonders if this is the one time too many. We have ever more rapidly and voraciously chewed up nature, destroying its many blessings before we even find them.
Then we have the two categories that deal with man, other men, and the battle that often goes on within the inner depths of a person as needs, principles, and desires are weighed. Even the very question of survival arises in many instances and that is the greatest challenge of all for some. How much and for how long do we fight against the Grim Reaper? How many people must die in order for others to live?How do we make decisions that condemn people to die as we weigh needlessly short supplies and personnel? How do we look at a presumed national leader, one to whom we look for guidance, for capability to rise to the challenge - and yet that response is dead silent other than with the echo of ever increasing lies, more lies and stupidities that will cost lives. At a time when empathy is needed we get harsh statements that the economy must reopen, never mind the ensuing consequences.
We argue against each other. One party thinks that we must rescue big corporations, even as this same party did not like it when the other party did that. They wish to give money away without oversight but were finally overruled by the Dems. Thus there was a delay as the economy sank deeper and deeper into, as I once read, "a morass in our own self made abyss". Yes, we, mankind, has brought this upon itself, whatever we believe. It is a disaster manmade by man's carelessness, selfishness, blinkered eyesight and vision that never took into account the 'collateral' damage we were causing and ignoring, allowing things to deteriorate at an ever increasing rapidity.
Is this also a message from the Supreme Power, whatever name He is given? Have we allowed the classic infection of hubris to overcome our sensitivities and thinking? Do we, did we, deserve this punishment, challenging the power of man Vs. G-d, building or attempting to build, our own version of the Tower of Babel and failing, disastrously?!
We here in this country have long thought we were special, separated by oceans, friendly borders, great thinkers and leaders who thought ahead, but we have found out that these were and are false premises. WHO says that we are set to become the biggest epicenter of COVID-19, even as the numbers grow and the dead multiply. Yet there is hope. Even as some hoard, others volunteer to come out of retirement, or jump into the hot waters even as they just graduate from schools. The little guys we never paid attention to are standing stalwartly at their jobs, risking health and they, not the madman leader of ours, are keeping the economy, such as it is, going. Kudos to all of them. Shame on Trump et al.
The tantrum throwing man is demanding, mind you, that people go back to work, go to houses of prayer, all by Easter Sunday and during the holiday of Passover. The medical experts are warning against that, but the tantrum continues. He is safe within his nice little cocoon, but the rest of us? He could care less!!
And so we are caught, hoisted on our own petard. Even as we were allowed time to observe other countries and see what works and what does not, even with that blessing, we fouled up. We did have plans but we ignored them. We did have a group charged with preparing for this, but that idiot disbanded them. Then we ignored safety rules in our cities and states. The federal government took on state governments for power and the states are the ones now trying to save lives, with even GOP governors fighting the insanity of the WH.
The results? We are just about under martial law, with curfews, outside activities just about banned, growing fears that the man there in that WH will take advantage and kill the November election in one way or another, and even refuse to leave should the results of the election place him as the loser. That we talk of this in growing disturbing predictions is mind boggling.
The experts are finally facing reality and understanding that recession terminology is way wrong for this situation. We are talking a world wide Depression greater than the Great one. Countries are now hoarding their own food supplies. Trade is down to a creep and a crawl. Just imagine, just follow the arrows to the inevitable disaster on a global scale should this be allowed to happen.
How do we stop this? Way above my pay grade but then again, I never made believe I could do that. I trusted, perhaps stupidly, that the leaders of the country would rise to the challenge, accept their responsibilities responsibly. How dumb that was and is. Truly dumb. So we, the people, are going to have to force the issue, force our leaders to do their jobs. Now!
Get hold of the story. Read it and understand its eternal lessons for mankind. These are lessons that we have ignored in our haughtiness, in our supreme moments of insanity, thinking that there will never be consequences we cannot overcome or ignore. Well, we have now found out that we are wrong, are basically in the same situation as those who faced the Black Plague, cholera, and the Spanish flu and found out the true depths of their helplessness in the face of deep tragedy.
Brother, but do we have to shape up or we will be shipped out despite our objections. Heed the warnings, the points of an evergrowing crisis and now right in our own backyards. Our lives depend on our reactions and the time it takes us to ramp up those responses plus their strength against the virus. I hope. I pray. I have every double organ crossed, knocked on all wood, including my own head, and prayed some more. Join me.
Wednesday, March 25, 2020
WHERE ARE THE TISSUES?
I know that there have been shortages of items - toilet paper, paper towels, wipes, but I also know that most people have a hoard of these items in their homes even as they continue to buy more. All I wanted yesterday was not the proverbial two front teeth from Santa, but a box or two of tissues as allergy season ramps up. It seems I had not kept up with the growing illogical list of precious items and my search was for naught until 7 last nite when I heard from a friend that a shipment had come in.
This is ridiculous. This is nonsense. Instead of companies ramping up for masks, for clothing, for health needs, they are spending time, resources and money on things that are really just fine. Instead of using those wartime powers he boasted of, using them to enforce production of these items and critically needed respirators, the idiot keeps fighting with those who insist thereis a BIG problem, particularly Cuomo, governor of NY State, an epicenter of the virus with NY City a particular mess.
Now, it seems, according to Trump, that there is a person at fault here for the entire coronavirus attacking our country. Who? Why Cuomo of course, he who has met the 'enemy' and found he is Trump!! That man with the powers to act does not, other than to come on in a weak imitation of FDR and proceed to spew more lies and inanities every day, all which lead to nothing good. He even has doctors writing false prescriptions for the meds he deemed miraculous in curing this virus but actually do not - at least at this point. What will cure it is a sensible approach, an orderly approach, an understanding of the needs and necessities of this After period of time in the country and world. This man obviously is lacking all these oh so necessary qualities, capabilities and smarts!!
So in this uncerain time what exactly are we sure of? Well, we are sure that NYC is bad, bad situation there. It shakes me to the core since New York is my hometown with my daughter and family there and many people I know, love and care about. They are now to be treated as pariahs in the country, having been told they must quarantine for two weeks if they travel outside the state. Not a good or happy situation.
We are also sure that at some point in time, the way we are going, every person in this country given a test at some point will probably test positive. The virus will be endemic and hopefully it will be like a seasonal flu situation, deadly to some, but with a vaccine and proper behavior can be handled. But will it ever reach that point? Will we ever realize that the tests are not really so necessary, that we should concentrate on building up the supplies before we here in America are forced to set up formal or informal death panels, deciding in heartbreaking conditions who gets the respirator and who does not. We need to stop consigning all the elderly to death as we face these shortages. We need to remember that there is a huge store of knowledge contained within these elderly minds and in the scary situation that faces us, wisdom and knowledge, human lore is important.
In 1939, C.S. Lewis spoke to incoming Oxford Scholars. He said that catastrophes such as war really serve as reminders, making the situation more obvious, that to live in the shadow of certain death is a permanent human condition. What makes us human and strong, though, is the continued attention to and pursuit of cultural needs. Life continues and we need to keep it so.
We need to remember that and not become barbarians, savages, as we face this crisis together. The world has surmounted fiercer and more deadly crises, made it through with far fewer advancements to combat the problems. We can get through this too if we ramp up to produce what we need, if we concentrate on making a vaccine that works, as we develop natural antibodies as the population is totally exposed, as we insure a clear and smooth supply of food and critical items to where it needs to go. We need to recognize the courage and importance, the gratitude we owe towards those workers who staff the groceries, the pharmacies, all the places where we go, the truckers who get it there, as well as the medical personnel and first responders. Israel had a nationwide show of appreciation for responders. Why not here - certainly in proper behavior and no snarling in the stores. That much we can do.
And certainly we can leave at least one box of tissues for me at the store!!! C'mon, people. This is a drastic and perhaps even deadly situation, and I already know of one who has died from this thing, but we can make it through. We can imagine a time when we can be together with our families. We can reimagine a time when life will be normal, perhaps a new normal, but still, better than this.
In the meanwhile, get those games, get those books, talk with your kids more, love each other and remember we are all in this together. Just leave me my tissues, please.
This is ridiculous. This is nonsense. Instead of companies ramping up for masks, for clothing, for health needs, they are spending time, resources and money on things that are really just fine. Instead of using those wartime powers he boasted of, using them to enforce production of these items and critically needed respirators, the idiot keeps fighting with those who insist thereis a BIG problem, particularly Cuomo, governor of NY State, an epicenter of the virus with NY City a particular mess.
Now, it seems, according to Trump, that there is a person at fault here for the entire coronavirus attacking our country. Who? Why Cuomo of course, he who has met the 'enemy' and found he is Trump!! That man with the powers to act does not, other than to come on in a weak imitation of FDR and proceed to spew more lies and inanities every day, all which lead to nothing good. He even has doctors writing false prescriptions for the meds he deemed miraculous in curing this virus but actually do not - at least at this point. What will cure it is a sensible approach, an orderly approach, an understanding of the needs and necessities of this After period of time in the country and world. This man obviously is lacking all these oh so necessary qualities, capabilities and smarts!!
So in this uncerain time what exactly are we sure of? Well, we are sure that NYC is bad, bad situation there. It shakes me to the core since New York is my hometown with my daughter and family there and many people I know, love and care about. They are now to be treated as pariahs in the country, having been told they must quarantine for two weeks if they travel outside the state. Not a good or happy situation.
We are also sure that at some point in time, the way we are going, every person in this country given a test at some point will probably test positive. The virus will be endemic and hopefully it will be like a seasonal flu situation, deadly to some, but with a vaccine and proper behavior can be handled. But will it ever reach that point? Will we ever realize that the tests are not really so necessary, that we should concentrate on building up the supplies before we here in America are forced to set up formal or informal death panels, deciding in heartbreaking conditions who gets the respirator and who does not. We need to stop consigning all the elderly to death as we face these shortages. We need to remember that there is a huge store of knowledge contained within these elderly minds and in the scary situation that faces us, wisdom and knowledge, human lore is important.
In 1939, C.S. Lewis spoke to incoming Oxford Scholars. He said that catastrophes such as war really serve as reminders, making the situation more obvious, that to live in the shadow of certain death is a permanent human condition. What makes us human and strong, though, is the continued attention to and pursuit of cultural needs. Life continues and we need to keep it so.
We need to remember that and not become barbarians, savages, as we face this crisis together. The world has surmounted fiercer and more deadly crises, made it through with far fewer advancements to combat the problems. We can get through this too if we ramp up to produce what we need, if we concentrate on making a vaccine that works, as we develop natural antibodies as the population is totally exposed, as we insure a clear and smooth supply of food and critical items to where it needs to go. We need to recognize the courage and importance, the gratitude we owe towards those workers who staff the groceries, the pharmacies, all the places where we go, the truckers who get it there, as well as the medical personnel and first responders. Israel had a nationwide show of appreciation for responders. Why not here - certainly in proper behavior and no snarling in the stores. That much we can do.
And certainly we can leave at least one box of tissues for me at the store!!! C'mon, people. This is a drastic and perhaps even deadly situation, and I already know of one who has died from this thing, but we can make it through. We can imagine a time when we can be together with our families. We can reimagine a time when life will be normal, perhaps a new normal, but still, better than this.
In the meanwhile, get those games, get those books, talk with your kids more, love each other and remember we are all in this together. Just leave me my tissues, please.
Tuesday, March 24, 2020
WE ARE THE WORLD
Remember that song? Back in 1983, I think, over 40 musicians got together and sang and sold this song for money to help stop the famine in Africa. The song, in today's terms, went viral. It was a major hit and influenced others to do similar songs and projects for other areas, including Hands Across America, wherein there was to be a line of handholding Americans across the entire country, all at a certain time as they sang the song. I participated in that along with family and some students of that time. It felt good and raised money.
Today, in these times, we need some of that same spirit. What we have instead are food banks and pantries closing from lack of donations. We have panic and stocking up buying of random items and categories. Aliens looking in on us from space must believe that our diet here is paper in various forms and that wearing various kinds of face masks and gloves of different colors is a custom, perhaps according to class or ethnicity. In other words, the world, not only this country, has gone mad.
But we have gone mad selectively. Some countries have all but shut down their citizens and economies. Others have fought doing that, but to a grim outcome as the virus rages on and people die in greater numbers, as the sick and dying overwhelm the hospitals and facilities. It seems that all over the world there is no one system or response that works all the time, clear in its objectives and parameters, and contains within it a continuing vibrant and healthy economy. We truly are, all of us, no matter the country, the ethnicity, the continent, are the world. The sooner recognized the sooner we can heal wounds common to all of us.
Some survivalists believe they have won the day as they depart to their hideaways, prestocked with food and supplies, armed to the teeth and closed off to the world. Well, we all cannot do that, can we; thus, we need to work in better and more cooperative ways. Unfortunately, over the past four years, the world has devolved and turned from unity to division, from cooperation to anger and threats, allies turning away from each other, no one sharing ideas and brains. Bad news for the rest of us, for the concept of we are the world, even as we orbit in space around the same sun on the same small globe.
As South Korea beats back the situation from the worst to the best, we have a ridiculous leader who whines how everyone hates him. Perhaps we ought to teach him the chidhood song of eating worms as everyone seems to regard him with hate. I believe it is more that people regard him with contempt, as useless, incompetent, egocentric to a sick degree, and has been hands off the helm for too long with disastrous results. He is a pathetic creature who is, unfortunately for us, leading us down the road to perdition and at the very least to the demise of this country in many ways, including existentially.
So as the businesses of the world shut down; as the people disappear off the streets of ghost town capitals; as airlines cut and cut until flights, both international and domestic, are cut to the bone, even going so far as amputation! we need, all of us, a strong degree of cooperation among the nations and leaders of the world. We need to remember that we ARE the world. What happens in one country happens in others. No avoiding it, only somehow, to differing degrees, to contain it, control it, cut the death rate and come to a realization that if we, the earth, are to survive, then we must change our ways, sing the song again and never mind the virus. We must hold hands , this time across the globe, a new equator of humans, caring for each other.
We will not solve these worldwide problems any more the old fashioned way. No country can go it alone any longer. We have cut connections to the bone, cutting noses despite faces. That must stop, come to an immediate halt.
WE ARE THE WORLD. WE ARE THE ANSWER.
We but have to dig deeper, heed our wisest leaders, not the uselesss dangerous ones and we, the world, can come through this and other crises, if we but and just remember that we are one. One can run, yes, for a while, but one cannot hide, certainly not forever and certainly not successfully in terms of the survival of the human race and its abode, Earth.
WE ARE THE WORLD
Today, in these times, we need some of that same spirit. What we have instead are food banks and pantries closing from lack of donations. We have panic and stocking up buying of random items and categories. Aliens looking in on us from space must believe that our diet here is paper in various forms and that wearing various kinds of face masks and gloves of different colors is a custom, perhaps according to class or ethnicity. In other words, the world, not only this country, has gone mad.
But we have gone mad selectively. Some countries have all but shut down their citizens and economies. Others have fought doing that, but to a grim outcome as the virus rages on and people die in greater numbers, as the sick and dying overwhelm the hospitals and facilities. It seems that all over the world there is no one system or response that works all the time, clear in its objectives and parameters, and contains within it a continuing vibrant and healthy economy. We truly are, all of us, no matter the country, the ethnicity, the continent, are the world. The sooner recognized the sooner we can heal wounds common to all of us.
Some survivalists believe they have won the day as they depart to their hideaways, prestocked with food and supplies, armed to the teeth and closed off to the world. Well, we all cannot do that, can we; thus, we need to work in better and more cooperative ways. Unfortunately, over the past four years, the world has devolved and turned from unity to division, from cooperation to anger and threats, allies turning away from each other, no one sharing ideas and brains. Bad news for the rest of us, for the concept of we are the world, even as we orbit in space around the same sun on the same small globe.
As South Korea beats back the situation from the worst to the best, we have a ridiculous leader who whines how everyone hates him. Perhaps we ought to teach him the chidhood song of eating worms as everyone seems to regard him with hate. I believe it is more that people regard him with contempt, as useless, incompetent, egocentric to a sick degree, and has been hands off the helm for too long with disastrous results. He is a pathetic creature who is, unfortunately for us, leading us down the road to perdition and at the very least to the demise of this country in many ways, including existentially.
So as the businesses of the world shut down; as the people disappear off the streets of ghost town capitals; as airlines cut and cut until flights, both international and domestic, are cut to the bone, even going so far as amputation! we need, all of us, a strong degree of cooperation among the nations and leaders of the world. We need to remember that we ARE the world. What happens in one country happens in others. No avoiding it, only somehow, to differing degrees, to contain it, control it, cut the death rate and come to a realization that if we, the earth, are to survive, then we must change our ways, sing the song again and never mind the virus. We must hold hands , this time across the globe, a new equator of humans, caring for each other.
We will not solve these worldwide problems any more the old fashioned way. No country can go it alone any longer. We have cut connections to the bone, cutting noses despite faces. That must stop, come to an immediate halt.
WE ARE THE WORLD. WE ARE THE ANSWER.
We but have to dig deeper, heed our wisest leaders, not the uselesss dangerous ones and we, the world, can come through this and other crises, if we but and just remember that we are one. One can run, yes, for a while, but one cannot hide, certainly not forever and certainly not successfully in terms of the survival of the human race and its abode, Earth.
WE ARE THE WORLD
Monday, March 23, 2020
IS THAT LITTLE BO PEEP?
Does anybody feel as if they hear the voice of Little Bo Peep calling for her errant flock? Would that we had our shepherd calling out, seeking diligently to find that missing flock. Instead we have an errant and missing, hopeless supposed shepherd rather than another Bo Peep.
Gov. Pritzker of Illinois tells Trump to "get off Twitter and do your job!" Mayors and governors from around the country are up in arms for the lack of leadershp from that man, even as he boasts that he has done much.
Truthfully, he has done much. He has increased the confusion tenfold. He has insured that our first line responders in this crisis are surely falling into a disaster as their gear is diminishing with no replenishment. This, as the "wartime" president refuses to ramp up production, as he spreads falsehoods galore, telling people it will be over soon, or he has found a miraculous drug - NOT! All the while, nothing, but nothing, gets done on the federal level unless it is done by non appointees, people who have the courage and the strength of character to take him to task and call out his lies as they speak the truth.
Meanwhile, we are a flock missing its leader. The nastiness of partisanship continues in Congress even as the country sinks further and further into crisis. To think that now we are speaking of Before and After and I know my grandkids are asking what that means. They want to know if they ever will see us again. I cry at that and I am sad wondering if we will outlast this epidemic, health and economic, and will I ever see my family again. Now that is a frightening state of being, worrying about never before worries.
Meanwhile, we have new heroes. We have doctors, nurses, orderlies, aides, paramedics, firemen, police, good people who bring food to the shutins. and now the truckers. These brave people keep on truckin' as they bring the supplies to us. They are away from their families, at risk for exposure, and without them there truly would be nothing to buy in the stores. Havoc would descend upon us.
A flock needs its shepherd, one that cares for it, that tends to it, that will go after that lost one no matter the terrain. David was such a shepherd. We hope that at least some of our religious leaders are such. We hope, perhps fruitlessly, that we will find a politician worthy of becoming our shepherd. As for the one in the WH right now - worthless, less than useless and dangerous in his incompetence, in his braggadacio, in his empty words and gusts of hot air.
So as we wait in our homes or stand in line hoping no one breathes on us, terrified of a cough, even now, the economy is tanking faster than the Titanic, with our false shepherd still favoring corporate over the people, and having lost the reins - if he ever had them - of control, of wisdom, of hope, of positive and concrete steps towards handling this crisis and related problems.
Oh Little Bo Peep, where are you? We need you. Please take away this broken one we now have masquerading as a shepherd and take his place. BoPeep come , come out, wherever you are!
Gov. Pritzker of Illinois tells Trump to "get off Twitter and do your job!" Mayors and governors from around the country are up in arms for the lack of leadershp from that man, even as he boasts that he has done much.
Truthfully, he has done much. He has increased the confusion tenfold. He has insured that our first line responders in this crisis are surely falling into a disaster as their gear is diminishing with no replenishment. This, as the "wartime" president refuses to ramp up production, as he spreads falsehoods galore, telling people it will be over soon, or he has found a miraculous drug - NOT! All the while, nothing, but nothing, gets done on the federal level unless it is done by non appointees, people who have the courage and the strength of character to take him to task and call out his lies as they speak the truth.
Meanwhile, we are a flock missing its leader. The nastiness of partisanship continues in Congress even as the country sinks further and further into crisis. To think that now we are speaking of Before and After and I know my grandkids are asking what that means. They want to know if they ever will see us again. I cry at that and I am sad wondering if we will outlast this epidemic, health and economic, and will I ever see my family again. Now that is a frightening state of being, worrying about never before worries.
Meanwhile, we have new heroes. We have doctors, nurses, orderlies, aides, paramedics, firemen, police, good people who bring food to the shutins. and now the truckers. These brave people keep on truckin' as they bring the supplies to us. They are away from their families, at risk for exposure, and without them there truly would be nothing to buy in the stores. Havoc would descend upon us.
A flock needs its shepherd, one that cares for it, that tends to it, that will go after that lost one no matter the terrain. David was such a shepherd. We hope that at least some of our religious leaders are such. We hope, perhps fruitlessly, that we will find a politician worthy of becoming our shepherd. As for the one in the WH right now - worthless, less than useless and dangerous in his incompetence, in his braggadacio, in his empty words and gusts of hot air.
So as we wait in our homes or stand in line hoping no one breathes on us, terrified of a cough, even now, the economy is tanking faster than the Titanic, with our false shepherd still favoring corporate over the people, and having lost the reins - if he ever had them - of control, of wisdom, of hope, of positive and concrete steps towards handling this crisis and related problems.
Oh Little Bo Peep, where are you? We need you. Please take away this broken one we now have masquerading as a shepherd and take his place. BoPeep come , come out, wherever you are!
Sunday, March 22, 2020
THE DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF AMERICA
"I have to tell you, the throwing away of the masks,being in private business, the throwing away of the mask right away, they're throwing it away,"....
These nearly incoherent and ignorant words issue from the mouth and very limited mind of Trump, our supposed to be leader in a time of crisis, a "wartime" president as he has taken to calling himself so much of late. He enjoys constant hinting at powers that people do not realize he has under this act, implying use of them as needed. However, when I think of other leaders of wartime America, FDR, Truman, even Bush #2, there was a dedication, a concentration, a reaching out to the world, to the people of the country, emphazizing inclusion and unity. All the while this useless, yet dangerous man is sharpening the divide, deepening its depth and width.
But there is far worse than this. Even as one fourth of the country is on lockdown - and growing - as NY has half of the over 20,000 identified so far with the virus, even as all levels of authority search for protection for their doctors, nurses, for EMT, for hospital orderlies, this man refuses to order the companies to ramp up. Why? Only seeking in the deep reaches of his limited mind might we find an answer and it would not be a pretty one either!
The world has changed. We will never be the same again. We will forever have a new Before and After and I doubt the prettiness of this New World. Much of the world has now isolated itself from all others. World trade can descend into the realms of 18th century, if that. Conveniences that we know will be lost. Flights? Ha! And the very deep hurting of social distancing, particularly at a time when one needs that hug, that laughter, that family togetherness, those good friends - we do not have them. We purposely isolate ourselves, children from aging parents, grandparents yearning to hug their grandchildren. Denied!!
All the while the prejudice grows, encouraged by those who wish to focus attention elsewhere, anywhere other than on them and their faults, their dangerous approaches to the problem at hand. So Trump calls it a "Chinese" virus and blames our current insufficient response on them even as they told us of the threat way back in December and then we sat on our hands as it grew and grew and took over countries with an everwidening scything of the Grim Reaper's sword. Anti Asian feeling grew even as anti Semitism ramped up as well, with the ancient canard of blame falling on them as well. Typical responses, typical tools of a government mired in its own morass that it created itself. Even as the idiot sends a letter to Kim offering aid!!! when we are overwhelmed here. Even as he continues to spout lies and more lies and then tries to cover up with yet more inanities and lies. Even as the country is drowning in debt, in layoffs in the millions, he continues to spend needless funds on that hateful wall! Priorities?
But here is where it gets truly frightening. The Justice Department, that corrupted organ of government, has asked Congress to give it powers that break all our traditions, all our laws, all our constitutional provisions. We return to yesteryear with people being held without trials, violating the right of habeas corpus - to appear before a judge -, to have the power to suspend the entire court system and process ANY time they, the chief judges and the President, deem it necessary. We are retreating to the time of Star Chambers, kangaroo courts, disappearances and lynchings.
This is when we will get a calling off of the elections in Novermber. Too much turmoil we will be told. Too much danger to change horses midstream. Never mind that the horse we are presently on is useless, and dangerous at the same time. This is when Congress will be asked to vote on these new demands with armed guards surrounding them so as to insure obedience to requests. Think not? Think never here? Think again and see how the country has changed over the past four years. We have grown less and less democratic and leaned heavier into the authoritarian side. Not good, my friends, not good.
Over the past four years, especially the past two years, I have written of what would be, what could be. I was told I went too far. I exaggerated. It would never be. It was America after all. And then came children in cages. Along came a sociopath for a president. Along came a dangerous paranoid narcissist. Along came a national party that lost its cojones in a dangerous manner and took the country down a dangerous road with a dead end for democracy at the end of that road. Along came rallies which called for jailings of opponents, swollen with a blood lust that seemingly knew no bounds nor needed any reason other than a man in a damned red hat speaking rabble rousing dangerous words.
Along came a man who did not fiddle, but did play golf, as the country deteriorated, as the economic recovery started by Obama collapsed into ruins by Trump's behavior, his policies, his incompetence, the corruption rife in his administration, the impotence of the GOP, the lack of expert knowledge in appointees and the chasing out of those with knowledge from his administration and the civil service.
I have sat here in the wee hours of the night, unable to sleep, and written warnings, pleas, prayers, and explanations. I set off alerts, alarms, sirens, and have been told by some that I have jumped the shark. Well, I wish that were so, but it is not. All that I have written has soon been taken up by so many others. I plead with all of you, all of us, hear the dangers, hear the whispers and shivers of fear, feel the discomfort of patriots, true patriots, as the very heart and soul of our country are being drained. The danger, the clear and present danger to our survival as a Democracy, as the United States of America is there to see. The new title of our country - well,look at the title of this posting and let us make sure that never comes to fruition.
Lord, I pray not. I pray that we reach our senses before that, that we stand watch over our country, that we do not allow the misnomered, mistitled Justice Department gain its requests. Let us force the men and women of Congress, both Houses, to stand and and be counted in the war for our survival. Let us insist on fair elections in November, with provisions for more mail in ballots and for less harassment at the polls.
Let us be Americans - forever and a day.
Let us start that revival now.
These nearly incoherent and ignorant words issue from the mouth and very limited mind of Trump, our supposed to be leader in a time of crisis, a "wartime" president as he has taken to calling himself so much of late. He enjoys constant hinting at powers that people do not realize he has under this act, implying use of them as needed. However, when I think of other leaders of wartime America, FDR, Truman, even Bush #2, there was a dedication, a concentration, a reaching out to the world, to the people of the country, emphazizing inclusion and unity. All the while this useless, yet dangerous man is sharpening the divide, deepening its depth and width.
But there is far worse than this. Even as one fourth of the country is on lockdown - and growing - as NY has half of the over 20,000 identified so far with the virus, even as all levels of authority search for protection for their doctors, nurses, for EMT, for hospital orderlies, this man refuses to order the companies to ramp up. Why? Only seeking in the deep reaches of his limited mind might we find an answer and it would not be a pretty one either!
The world has changed. We will never be the same again. We will forever have a new Before and After and I doubt the prettiness of this New World. Much of the world has now isolated itself from all others. World trade can descend into the realms of 18th century, if that. Conveniences that we know will be lost. Flights? Ha! And the very deep hurting of social distancing, particularly at a time when one needs that hug, that laughter, that family togetherness, those good friends - we do not have them. We purposely isolate ourselves, children from aging parents, grandparents yearning to hug their grandchildren. Denied!!
All the while the prejudice grows, encouraged by those who wish to focus attention elsewhere, anywhere other than on them and their faults, their dangerous approaches to the problem at hand. So Trump calls it a "Chinese" virus and blames our current insufficient response on them even as they told us of the threat way back in December and then we sat on our hands as it grew and grew and took over countries with an everwidening scything of the Grim Reaper's sword. Anti Asian feeling grew even as anti Semitism ramped up as well, with the ancient canard of blame falling on them as well. Typical responses, typical tools of a government mired in its own morass that it created itself. Even as the idiot sends a letter to Kim offering aid!!! when we are overwhelmed here. Even as he continues to spout lies and more lies and then tries to cover up with yet more inanities and lies. Even as the country is drowning in debt, in layoffs in the millions, he continues to spend needless funds on that hateful wall! Priorities?
But here is where it gets truly frightening. The Justice Department, that corrupted organ of government, has asked Congress to give it powers that break all our traditions, all our laws, all our constitutional provisions. We return to yesteryear with people being held without trials, violating the right of habeas corpus - to appear before a judge -, to have the power to suspend the entire court system and process ANY time they, the chief judges and the President, deem it necessary. We are retreating to the time of Star Chambers, kangaroo courts, disappearances and lynchings.
This is when we will get a calling off of the elections in Novermber. Too much turmoil we will be told. Too much danger to change horses midstream. Never mind that the horse we are presently on is useless, and dangerous at the same time. This is when Congress will be asked to vote on these new demands with armed guards surrounding them so as to insure obedience to requests. Think not? Think never here? Think again and see how the country has changed over the past four years. We have grown less and less democratic and leaned heavier into the authoritarian side. Not good, my friends, not good.
Over the past four years, especially the past two years, I have written of what would be, what could be. I was told I went too far. I exaggerated. It would never be. It was America after all. And then came children in cages. Along came a sociopath for a president. Along came a dangerous paranoid narcissist. Along came a national party that lost its cojones in a dangerous manner and took the country down a dangerous road with a dead end for democracy at the end of that road. Along came rallies which called for jailings of opponents, swollen with a blood lust that seemingly knew no bounds nor needed any reason other than a man in a damned red hat speaking rabble rousing dangerous words.
Along came a man who did not fiddle, but did play golf, as the country deteriorated, as the economic recovery started by Obama collapsed into ruins by Trump's behavior, his policies, his incompetence, the corruption rife in his administration, the impotence of the GOP, the lack of expert knowledge in appointees and the chasing out of those with knowledge from his administration and the civil service.
I have sat here in the wee hours of the night, unable to sleep, and written warnings, pleas, prayers, and explanations. I set off alerts, alarms, sirens, and have been told by some that I have jumped the shark. Well, I wish that were so, but it is not. All that I have written has soon been taken up by so many others. I plead with all of you, all of us, hear the dangers, hear the whispers and shivers of fear, feel the discomfort of patriots, true patriots, as the very heart and soul of our country are being drained. The danger, the clear and present danger to our survival as a Democracy, as the United States of America is there to see. The new title of our country - well,look at the title of this posting and let us make sure that never comes to fruition.
Lord, I pray not. I pray that we reach our senses before that, that we stand watch over our country, that we do not allow the misnomered, mistitled Justice Department gain its requests. Let us force the men and women of Congress, both Houses, to stand and and be counted in the war for our survival. Let us insist on fair elections in November, with provisions for more mail in ballots and for less harassment at the polls.
Let us be Americans - forever and a day.
Let us start that revival now.
Friday, March 20, 2020
PLAIN HARD UNVARNISHED TRUTH
The words in the title are the words which tell us what we were and are not getting now or perhaps ever in the last four years, at least from the federal government. The lies that come tripping out of the mouths are as foul as if one were simply standing there spewing curse words. Perhaps this is even worse as curse words generally do not kill, but falsehoods re this damned virus do kill, have killed and will keep killing. According to various experts, if we keep up this pathetic response, it will kill as many as 1.1 million Americans. Again: 1.1 million. And that is only a guesstimate. It could be more.
In 2018 Trump killed the Board that was responsible for planning for pandemics. He decided, unilaterally, within his teeny tiny twisted mind that there would never be such a thing. A student of history he is not, nor of modern trends and risks, to say the least and therefore he stood firm on that catastrophic decision. And that was that.
More disasters combined to get us to where we are now. First, we need to rememer that the majority of Americans voted for Clinton and only an antiquated, dangerously anti democracy organ, the Electoral College, put that ass into office. That was the beginning. We then were treated to a never ending river of lies, of concepts of oxymoronic proportions, fake news, fake media, deep state, coups to oust presidents, and it just went on and on. People grew tired of it all. People began to divide to such an extent that America grew a huge chasm in its heart. Friends and families could no more discuss politics as it became emotional. It was a choice between decency and rot, between democracy and ever encroaching corruption and stomping on American traditional values. It tore at the core of America, worse day by day, month by month.
In October, 2019, there was a draft report based on a scenario of a pandemic hitting the world, hitting the USA. It was horrific in its conclusions even as the present day situation appears to be even worse. The conclusions of this report stated that we were "underfunded, underprepared and uncoordinated the federal government would be for a life-or-death battle with a virus for which no treatment existed." and was marked absolutely "not to be disclosed"!! The situation today, in real life, is even more dire, with confusion at the federal level and we are supposed to breathe easy because Kushner, yet again, has pushed himself into this mess, working against federal officials engaged in this war for survival of America - all to our great detriment.
The fabric of life of the world has been torn, shredded, and we are not different here, though there is one difference. That is that Americans do not seem to follow the restrictions and lockdowns, particularly the young. They aparently believe they are invincible and are partying away at resort areas and beaches. Even as families are locked down with members who are ill, leaving the elderly in nursing homes, deserted, almost abandoned, and parents frightened for their children.
How do we fix the problem? Brighter minds than I have not come up with definitive answers other than lockdowns and pushing research on vaccines, at least a year to year and a half away. Stupidity, dangerous stupidity of Trump, pushing chloroquine and hydroxychloroquine is dangerous, given that they are not approved, and I repeat, NOT APPROVED, for coronavirus, are in short supply anyway, and there are dangerous side effects including mental ones in addition to severe physical issues such as heart damage and increased muscle weakness. Humph! That kind of leaves out a whole bunch of people, does it not!
Here are two interesting tidbits. We now find that two GOP Senators, in positions and places to get the news first, immediately sold out their stocks. Yup! Even as the rest of us are watching our pitiful holdings of a lifetime shrink and shrink and shrink. Insider trading on a national level. Jail, anyone?Like that would ever happen as we sink further and further into a morass of corruption and moral filth in that ever growing swamp of Trump.
Here is another. Trump is not averse to gaining a federal stock holding in major industries. UH, WHAT? Government in the business of industry, nationalizing to a degree, and this after pushing huge bailouts? They were vehemently against Obama when he did that and that led to the prosperous economy that Trump takes credit for - that is, until it tanked! Sounds like socialism to me!! Socialism! Socialism? What gives here, folks? What is going on?
The problem is that there is no one that truly knows what is going on or has any amount of control oer the mess. So we are left in a faulty vacuum, all the better to spread the disease, this nasty virus. And no one, no one, has any real and viable solution to the massive Depression - not recession - that will be here within moments. We are way past recession, even at the level of the Great Depression and the sooner recognized, the sooner dealt with.
Get rid of these incompetent, crooked Republicans in the election and let us get started on a path, a difficult and long one to a recovery - in mind and body. That is my first step to a solution.
In 2018 Trump killed the Board that was responsible for planning for pandemics. He decided, unilaterally, within his teeny tiny twisted mind that there would never be such a thing. A student of history he is not, nor of modern trends and risks, to say the least and therefore he stood firm on that catastrophic decision. And that was that.
More disasters combined to get us to where we are now. First, we need to rememer that the majority of Americans voted for Clinton and only an antiquated, dangerously anti democracy organ, the Electoral College, put that ass into office. That was the beginning. We then were treated to a never ending river of lies, of concepts of oxymoronic proportions, fake news, fake media, deep state, coups to oust presidents, and it just went on and on. People grew tired of it all. People began to divide to such an extent that America grew a huge chasm in its heart. Friends and families could no more discuss politics as it became emotional. It was a choice between decency and rot, between democracy and ever encroaching corruption and stomping on American traditional values. It tore at the core of America, worse day by day, month by month.
In October, 2019, there was a draft report based on a scenario of a pandemic hitting the world, hitting the USA. It was horrific in its conclusions even as the present day situation appears to be even worse. The conclusions of this report stated that we were "underfunded, underprepared and uncoordinated the federal government would be for a life-or-death battle with a virus for which no treatment existed." and was marked absolutely "not to be disclosed"!! The situation today, in real life, is even more dire, with confusion at the federal level and we are supposed to breathe easy because Kushner, yet again, has pushed himself into this mess, working against federal officials engaged in this war for survival of America - all to our great detriment.
The fabric of life of the world has been torn, shredded, and we are not different here, though there is one difference. That is that Americans do not seem to follow the restrictions and lockdowns, particularly the young. They aparently believe they are invincible and are partying away at resort areas and beaches. Even as families are locked down with members who are ill, leaving the elderly in nursing homes, deserted, almost abandoned, and parents frightened for their children.
How do we fix the problem? Brighter minds than I have not come up with definitive answers other than lockdowns and pushing research on vaccines, at least a year to year and a half away. Stupidity, dangerous stupidity of Trump, pushing chloroquine and hydroxychloroquine is dangerous, given that they are not approved, and I repeat, NOT APPROVED, for coronavirus, are in short supply anyway, and there are dangerous side effects including mental ones in addition to severe physical issues such as heart damage and increased muscle weakness. Humph! That kind of leaves out a whole bunch of people, does it not!
Here are two interesting tidbits. We now find that two GOP Senators, in positions and places to get the news first, immediately sold out their stocks. Yup! Even as the rest of us are watching our pitiful holdings of a lifetime shrink and shrink and shrink. Insider trading on a national level. Jail, anyone?Like that would ever happen as we sink further and further into a morass of corruption and moral filth in that ever growing swamp of Trump.
Here is another. Trump is not averse to gaining a federal stock holding in major industries. UH, WHAT? Government in the business of industry, nationalizing to a degree, and this after pushing huge bailouts? They were vehemently against Obama when he did that and that led to the prosperous economy that Trump takes credit for - that is, until it tanked! Sounds like socialism to me!! Socialism! Socialism? What gives here, folks? What is going on?
The problem is that there is no one that truly knows what is going on or has any amount of control oer the mess. So we are left in a faulty vacuum, all the better to spread the disease, this nasty virus. And no one, no one, has any real and viable solution to the massive Depression - not recession - that will be here within moments. We are way past recession, even at the level of the Great Depression and the sooner recognized, the sooner dealt with.
Get rid of these incompetent, crooked Republicans in the election and let us get started on a path, a difficult and long one to a recovery - in mind and body. That is my first step to a solution.
Thursday, March 19, 2020
WITH A WHIMPER?
Remember, once upon a time, when we had a flight to catch for a great vacation? The running around for needed items. The frantic last minute rundown if we packed it all. The double checking of all appliances. Finally, the aahh as we settled into our seats, no frantic cleaning in sight, and awaited our arrival in our chosen paradise to be. Good memories. Fond memories. Funny ones too. But now, now these are but dim memories and I wonder, I truly do, if these memories will take on life again, if we will fly again, laugh and mix together again, spend holidays with far flung families again.
Like it or not, our lives are changing and I think they are changing for a good future in many ways. We now realize the dangers of pandemics, the necessity of preparation and plans, the not so blase way of life that thought nothing of popping onto a plane and flying off somewhere. We will have to adjust but we can do it. We have surpassed other problems, come back, and hopefully this time we will come back with sense and a dose of reality and what ifs.
Yet I wonder if we have learned anything positive from this tragedy as we continue to bicker and nitpick, run a White House which is definitely short on brains, a President who is such a compulsive and inveterate liar that entire shows have taken to parsing his lies over the months and the lies trying to cover up the previous lies. Who is in charge? Who is on those proverbial bases? No one knows and the results of this frayed approach to problems are the main reason why we are in these messes to begin with. Ain't that the truth!!!
However, despite it all, there is hope. Many people are complying with regulations as difficult as they now make life. Most of us are contemplating a life reminiscent of the Great Depression and the Spanish flu epidemic. Unsure, uncertain of health and finance, worried for family members, unable to be with them, most of us are doing the right thing. Is that 'right thing' the very thing that will help this planet of ours as the very visible reduction of air pollution can be seen via satellite, via breathing? The Lord works in mysterious ways, does He not? So perhaps with a whimper, right now, is what we need to do.
Unfortunately, though, there are those who are tending towards the bang part of the question. Worry has increased with fear for the elderly and just look at our government levels, especially federal, and realize how elderly most of our presumed leaders are, how exposed they are and then what? What if there is a massive die off or a major sickening of them? Who will lead? What will happen?
And here it comes. In times of duress such as now, people often tend towards the strong leader, the one who confidently assserts that he/she has all the answers and if we have to give up some cherished traditions, well, so be it. Many of these so called leaders are actually worse for us, for humanity, but people are people and that is truly a worry that should be eating away at our peace of mind.
A report by the Southern Poverty Law Center details the fearful rise of white nationalist groups. People turn towards someone who appears to have all the answers. HBO presents the series based on The Plot Against America, by Philip Roth. Watch it as it unfolds. See history repeat itself. Right here in America. Decades ago I wrote a play for the eighth graders to perform for Holocaust Memorial Day and it portrayed a nation vastly different than the one we live in. But it is possible. And it can happen and perhaps it is even happening as I type these words.
How many times already have we heard nasty, vicious, ancient canards arise anew. The Jews are doing this. They knew about this and spread it for money. Seemingly sane public figures are buying into this and follow along as easily as those during the time of the Black Plague, of the cholera outbreaks, who listened to hatemongers of the time, including the Churches of the time, and blamed it on the Jews.
Riots, pogroms, vicious murders and all to no avail for this is a problem of cleanliness, of watchfulness, of understanding and preparation. Furthermore, calling it a Chinese virus, a foreign virus, as that moron of the WH continues to do, is not helping but rather hindering and building up roars of xenophobic feelings and bad, truly bad reactions from it. These very bangs, this growth of the hate industry, are what we need to eliminate, to once and for all understand that we are one people, the people of Earth, facing a global pandemic along with other global and existential problems.
Maybe, just maybe, hopefully, one day we will have a leader or leaders who understand this. Soon. Like today!? Like yesterday?!
No, I do not wish to go out with a whimper, though I will follow the new conventions of life as we stumble toward a possible lessening of the drastic effects of this virus on our society. But I will not go out with a bang of violence and hatred either and if a bang is necessary, let us bang out the bad, the thoughts that belong in a museum of the ancient and disproven. Will we ever get there?
"Life is a journey; living is a struggle." So said Mike Tyson and he is so right. The sooner we realize that, the sooner we realize that it takes hard work and sacrifice on the part of us all if we are to keep our world, improve our world, the better we will be. The alternative is not really where we want to go.
Like it or not, our lives are changing and I think they are changing for a good future in many ways. We now realize the dangers of pandemics, the necessity of preparation and plans, the not so blase way of life that thought nothing of popping onto a plane and flying off somewhere. We will have to adjust but we can do it. We have surpassed other problems, come back, and hopefully this time we will come back with sense and a dose of reality and what ifs.
Yet I wonder if we have learned anything positive from this tragedy as we continue to bicker and nitpick, run a White House which is definitely short on brains, a President who is such a compulsive and inveterate liar that entire shows have taken to parsing his lies over the months and the lies trying to cover up the previous lies. Who is in charge? Who is on those proverbial bases? No one knows and the results of this frayed approach to problems are the main reason why we are in these messes to begin with. Ain't that the truth!!!
However, despite it all, there is hope. Many people are complying with regulations as difficult as they now make life. Most of us are contemplating a life reminiscent of the Great Depression and the Spanish flu epidemic. Unsure, uncertain of health and finance, worried for family members, unable to be with them, most of us are doing the right thing. Is that 'right thing' the very thing that will help this planet of ours as the very visible reduction of air pollution can be seen via satellite, via breathing? The Lord works in mysterious ways, does He not? So perhaps with a whimper, right now, is what we need to do.
Unfortunately, though, there are those who are tending towards the bang part of the question. Worry has increased with fear for the elderly and just look at our government levels, especially federal, and realize how elderly most of our presumed leaders are, how exposed they are and then what? What if there is a massive die off or a major sickening of them? Who will lead? What will happen?
And here it comes. In times of duress such as now, people often tend towards the strong leader, the one who confidently assserts that he/she has all the answers and if we have to give up some cherished traditions, well, so be it. Many of these so called leaders are actually worse for us, for humanity, but people are people and that is truly a worry that should be eating away at our peace of mind.
A report by the Southern Poverty Law Center details the fearful rise of white nationalist groups. People turn towards someone who appears to have all the answers. HBO presents the series based on The Plot Against America, by Philip Roth. Watch it as it unfolds. See history repeat itself. Right here in America. Decades ago I wrote a play for the eighth graders to perform for Holocaust Memorial Day and it portrayed a nation vastly different than the one we live in. But it is possible. And it can happen and perhaps it is even happening as I type these words.
How many times already have we heard nasty, vicious, ancient canards arise anew. The Jews are doing this. They knew about this and spread it for money. Seemingly sane public figures are buying into this and follow along as easily as those during the time of the Black Plague, of the cholera outbreaks, who listened to hatemongers of the time, including the Churches of the time, and blamed it on the Jews.
Riots, pogroms, vicious murders and all to no avail for this is a problem of cleanliness, of watchfulness, of understanding and preparation. Furthermore, calling it a Chinese virus, a foreign virus, as that moron of the WH continues to do, is not helping but rather hindering and building up roars of xenophobic feelings and bad, truly bad reactions from it. These very bangs, this growth of the hate industry, are what we need to eliminate, to once and for all understand that we are one people, the people of Earth, facing a global pandemic along with other global and existential problems.
Maybe, just maybe, hopefully, one day we will have a leader or leaders who understand this. Soon. Like today!? Like yesterday?!
No, I do not wish to go out with a whimper, though I will follow the new conventions of life as we stumble toward a possible lessening of the drastic effects of this virus on our society. But I will not go out with a bang of violence and hatred either and if a bang is necessary, let us bang out the bad, the thoughts that belong in a museum of the ancient and disproven. Will we ever get there?
"Life is a journey; living is a struggle." So said Mike Tyson and he is so right. The sooner we realize that, the sooner we realize that it takes hard work and sacrifice on the part of us all if we are to keep our world, improve our world, the better we will be. The alternative is not really where we want to go.
Wednesday, March 18, 2020
LUNAR LANDING
Thought I made a wrong turn somewhere yesterday when I went outside for the longest expedition undertaken in recent days. What, you ask? Why a lunar landing? Simple. Upon achieving the outdoors, what was seen was a lunar landscape, a deserted landscape - no cars, no people - until we reached the store - and there, everyone was garbed as we were, shoulders hunched in avoidance as we neared any other human being. Eerie.
But even before we landed on the moon, we garbed up as if we were going somewhere dangerous and then we realized that was exactly what we were doing. Gloves? Check. Wipes? Check.Extra wipes for later? Check. Purell? Check. Courage? Uh, maybe not. This, in the land of Florida where one generally just opens the door and goes out into the 'wilds' garbed only in shorts and t shirt and do not forget the sunglases and hat. But now? Now it is different.
It also seems to promise that it will get even more different. My grandson is under lock and key in California. Thank goodness he had shopped before, for the edict was to take effect "immediately" and remain so until midnight of March 31. But perhaps that is the only way to stop or ameliorate this virus. In China it is now under control even as it widens its grip on the West, and maybe we need to learn from them, albeit without cruelty. In Italy they are triaging and most anyone over 70 will not get treatment or space in the hospital. It is just the way it is in an overloaded system, way underprepared for a crisis of this size. Nor are we, right here in America.
Back to the lunar surface. As we reached our destination we saw another weird sight, perhaps the denizens of this lunar landscape needing huge packages of paper towels and toilet paper to exist. That and water semed to fill most wagons. There were workers lined along the sides warning about limits on that strange assortment of 'food' for the shoppers but even as the expedition was over and we waited on line to pay, what happened to the six feet separation, the social distancing? It seemed to have been lost in the lunar dust somewhere, but there was not a single cough, not a single feverish looking person and lo and behold, a magic lunar dust effect took place. No one shouted or fought or argued for a space on the lines. No one refused to let someone through the line lest they cut it. Amazing! People were even more civilized than on a shopping day prior, Before, the world changed.
Outside it was an amazing sight that greeted us. What was an easy entrance before now seemed to have grown into a huge and crowded line, filled with people hanging on to wagons and baskets, laughing and talking with each other, not a complaint to be heard and six feet? What was that?
All kidding aside, this is not a funny lunar landing, but the new normal. And we had better improve on that if we are to flatten the curve, lower it somehow so we can get a grip on things. $1,000 check is fine, but then what? The stores will still be closed and I must admit that all the emails I received yesterday , each one from a major retailer, telling me they were closing for two weeks - well, now that was frightening. And then I saw a story about a run on $100 billls in Manhattan. I even questioned whether we should pull some cash out of the bank before it goes under but then decided that if that happens, there is no use fighting so why the cash?!
Now the doctors are calling. Office hours are over. Closed. Procedures cancelled. Questions and unknowns will remain unanswered, remain unknown until further notice. Not a good feeling but then again, we seemed to have landed on a lunar colony with different rules than our previously known civilization.
Every country in the world has been affected or will be. We need to face that fact and know that this thing will be around as a threat until and unless we follow the harsh rules, develop and produce a vaccine, and remember the rules for afterwards. Watch yourself. Always wash your hands. Take precautions. And stock up on books and games!
I, personally, hate this mess for a personal reason. Yes, I know I am in the category of most at risk but am dealing with it. Yet it is difficult to deal with the personal aspect. Every time my husband, who thinks he is invincible, goes out on another errand, I cringe. I know I have to pick up the phone to remain in contact with friends. Our family, for the first time in years, will not be together for Passover. Neither will the families of friends. We, the seniors, are repurchasing supplies as if we were newlyweds, making the first Passover ever. And it will be lonely. Majorly so. The worst? The fact that I miss my grandkids and yeah, even my adult children! We Facetime, we Whatsapp, we email, we phone but not the same. No hugs. No kisses. No one on one games. This is the hardest thing of all. This is what saddens me and angers me.
Why did we not prepare for this? We knew a pandemic was coming along one day. We have had close calls before. So why did Trump et al cut funding for health needs. Why in the midst of all this is McConnell trying to get older judges off the bench so they can ram through more unqualified, fossilized thinking replacements, all the better to screw us for decades? Why are the GOP members adding insult to injury and injury after injury to our democracy?
We are facing existential questions and concerns on all ends and all around us. Even when and if a vaccine is around, there are lessons to be learned here and life changes to be made. Perhaps, just perhaps, we will learn those lessons and we will also learn how important social life is. No, not the mad partying of the young, but the connections in real time and space with friends and family, even with people you meet waiting in line! I yearn for those times again and wonder if they will return, at least in my lifetime.
This is a bad lunar landscape we are now facing. Soon enough I have to tog all up for my space journey to the rehab gym so I do not stiffen up. Gloves, wipes, Purell, and a self reminder to wash before, during and after the session. And watch out for a cough!! Life!
But even before we landed on the moon, we garbed up as if we were going somewhere dangerous and then we realized that was exactly what we were doing. Gloves? Check. Wipes? Check.Extra wipes for later? Check. Purell? Check. Courage? Uh, maybe not. This, in the land of Florida where one generally just opens the door and goes out into the 'wilds' garbed only in shorts and t shirt and do not forget the sunglases and hat. But now? Now it is different.
It also seems to promise that it will get even more different. My grandson is under lock and key in California. Thank goodness he had shopped before, for the edict was to take effect "immediately" and remain so until midnight of March 31. But perhaps that is the only way to stop or ameliorate this virus. In China it is now under control even as it widens its grip on the West, and maybe we need to learn from them, albeit without cruelty. In Italy they are triaging and most anyone over 70 will not get treatment or space in the hospital. It is just the way it is in an overloaded system, way underprepared for a crisis of this size. Nor are we, right here in America.
Back to the lunar surface. As we reached our destination we saw another weird sight, perhaps the denizens of this lunar landscape needing huge packages of paper towels and toilet paper to exist. That and water semed to fill most wagons. There were workers lined along the sides warning about limits on that strange assortment of 'food' for the shoppers but even as the expedition was over and we waited on line to pay, what happened to the six feet separation, the social distancing? It seemed to have been lost in the lunar dust somewhere, but there was not a single cough, not a single feverish looking person and lo and behold, a magic lunar dust effect took place. No one shouted or fought or argued for a space on the lines. No one refused to let someone through the line lest they cut it. Amazing! People were even more civilized than on a shopping day prior, Before, the world changed.
Outside it was an amazing sight that greeted us. What was an easy entrance before now seemed to have grown into a huge and crowded line, filled with people hanging on to wagons and baskets, laughing and talking with each other, not a complaint to be heard and six feet? What was that?
All kidding aside, this is not a funny lunar landing, but the new normal. And we had better improve on that if we are to flatten the curve, lower it somehow so we can get a grip on things. $1,000 check is fine, but then what? The stores will still be closed and I must admit that all the emails I received yesterday , each one from a major retailer, telling me they were closing for two weeks - well, now that was frightening. And then I saw a story about a run on $100 billls in Manhattan. I even questioned whether we should pull some cash out of the bank before it goes under but then decided that if that happens, there is no use fighting so why the cash?!
Now the doctors are calling. Office hours are over. Closed. Procedures cancelled. Questions and unknowns will remain unanswered, remain unknown until further notice. Not a good feeling but then again, we seemed to have landed on a lunar colony with different rules than our previously known civilization.
Every country in the world has been affected or will be. We need to face that fact and know that this thing will be around as a threat until and unless we follow the harsh rules, develop and produce a vaccine, and remember the rules for afterwards. Watch yourself. Always wash your hands. Take precautions. And stock up on books and games!
I, personally, hate this mess for a personal reason. Yes, I know I am in the category of most at risk but am dealing with it. Yet it is difficult to deal with the personal aspect. Every time my husband, who thinks he is invincible, goes out on another errand, I cringe. I know I have to pick up the phone to remain in contact with friends. Our family, for the first time in years, will not be together for Passover. Neither will the families of friends. We, the seniors, are repurchasing supplies as if we were newlyweds, making the first Passover ever. And it will be lonely. Majorly so. The worst? The fact that I miss my grandkids and yeah, even my adult children! We Facetime, we Whatsapp, we email, we phone but not the same. No hugs. No kisses. No one on one games. This is the hardest thing of all. This is what saddens me and angers me.
Why did we not prepare for this? We knew a pandemic was coming along one day. We have had close calls before. So why did Trump et al cut funding for health needs. Why in the midst of all this is McConnell trying to get older judges off the bench so they can ram through more unqualified, fossilized thinking replacements, all the better to screw us for decades? Why are the GOP members adding insult to injury and injury after injury to our democracy?
We are facing existential questions and concerns on all ends and all around us. Even when and if a vaccine is around, there are lessons to be learned here and life changes to be made. Perhaps, just perhaps, we will learn those lessons and we will also learn how important social life is. No, not the mad partying of the young, but the connections in real time and space with friends and family, even with people you meet waiting in line! I yearn for those times again and wonder if they will return, at least in my lifetime.
This is a bad lunar landscape we are now facing. Soon enough I have to tog all up for my space journey to the rehab gym so I do not stiffen up. Gloves, wipes, Purell, and a self reminder to wash before, during and after the session. And watch out for a cough!! Life!
Tuesday, March 17, 2020
WAS IS WILL BE MAYBE
Quite a while ago there was a movie made, I believe with Kevin Costner, called The Postman. Its premise was that there was a disaster in the country and it dissolved into little 'stans', hostile and combative, with barely any travel, - on horseback or foot, - families split for years and no contact between groups. For some reason, the Postman of the title decided to deliver mail or use it as an excuse to travel safely and a new spirit was born, a la a new Pony Express and of course, there was a happy ending. We loved the movie and it is a vital movie to rewatch in these troubled times as we begin to isolate from each other, begin to fear contact with people we know, and withdraw into ourselves, leaving behind a vacuum in the life that was, creating a new life that is, and leaving a huge hole of uncertainty and even despair at what will be - maybe.
Making no bones about it, I am afraid. I am afraid for my family and the separation between us, the almost impossibility of bridging those physical miles soon. I am afraid for my husband, for myself, thinking, feeling, that every time we go outside we are risking our lives. A shopping trip today for food for a holiday is, to me, fraught with fright, with existential danger, as I am one of those 'compromised' seniors. And yet, it is something that must be done. We will put on gloves, have disinfectant in the car, but are breathing the same air as every single person there, who was recently there, and the future is hazy. Silly? Overreacting? Not really sure about that as this damned thing spreads like nobody's business. Yet, what else is there to do?
Everything is at stake. Crisis often brings political reactions and we have been in one for four years already and looking at the next four with great doubts and fears. Will we continue to have a democracy or will this pandemic encourage foes of democracy to step out and forward, force their will upon the country? It has happened many times before, and in the midst of this we must remember the conversation between Benjamin Franklin and another who asked if the new country would be a monarchy or a democracy. Good question, huh! His answer was that it will be what we make of it. The onus is on us, never dying, even as the pandemic levels society, bringing it almost to a halt and never mind recession, which I predicted way before the 'experts'. I fear worse than that and for a long time to come. Such a blow to the national and international streams of commerce, of buying habits, of even having the funds to buy anything other than basic survival needs, well, it will be a long time a comin' back. Unfortunate, but there it is. What was, what is, will change, morph into a new what will be - maybe. It is upon us to watch, act, and be strong.
Trump talks of it "washing through" but this will not come out in the wash. It will need lots of scrubbing, hard work, and many attempts, failures, and eventually, a quick eventuality at that, one hopes, we will have a vaccine - maybe. Even though some testing has begun, we are taking baby steps and there is a time lag of at least a year to eighteen months before there will be a vaccine. Distribution will not be a picnic. Remember when there was a shortage of flu vaccine, the long lines, the fights in that line, the fear, the angst? Well......
Experts are telling us “People need to be informed, but not afraid.” Not so easy to do. We are all humans and when faced with this awful crisis and sorry, folks, 1918 is looking like a twin to us now. Perhaps even better than our mess, and poo pooing that comparison will not change the facts on the ground. People are dying. Countries have literally 'locked' the population in their homes, going out only to doctors, for food, and no public transportation. We think things will remain open, but remember, robots are not the workers and clerks. People are and they are just as frightened, just as vulnerable, just as concerned and who is to make sure they come out into the open to serve the rest of the world! Not so easy. Not so smooth, if one thinks more than one or two steps ahead.
As for our 'leader', pardon the expression, what a disaster in itself. There is "even less clarity in an already fractured chain of command. “What begins every kind of mobilized response by the president — clear assignments and some sense that this is an absolute priority — none of that seemed to be ..." States and municipalities are left to fend for themselves, to scrounge for supplies, and the feds do nothing to ameliorate shortages and knots in the supply line. In fact,the damage has been done over the past few years and cannot be undone quickly.
So what to do? In my opinion, some fear is a good thing. It will make us think before we do something stupid. Perhaps it will change our habits for the future, insuring a healthier, more prepared society and will make us appreciate what was, what used to be what is, and what will be - maybe, just maybe, a better world. But fear and caution are necessary right now and so is helping your neighbors who are quarantined or seniors or have infants in the home. Shop for them when you go, make a phone call to them, bring them a book to their door. Together we can make a good future as we get through this awful present. Alone, well, let us not go there.
Making no bones about it, I am afraid. I am afraid for my family and the separation between us, the almost impossibility of bridging those physical miles soon. I am afraid for my husband, for myself, thinking, feeling, that every time we go outside we are risking our lives. A shopping trip today for food for a holiday is, to me, fraught with fright, with existential danger, as I am one of those 'compromised' seniors. And yet, it is something that must be done. We will put on gloves, have disinfectant in the car, but are breathing the same air as every single person there, who was recently there, and the future is hazy. Silly? Overreacting? Not really sure about that as this damned thing spreads like nobody's business. Yet, what else is there to do?
Everything is at stake. Crisis often brings political reactions and we have been in one for four years already and looking at the next four with great doubts and fears. Will we continue to have a democracy or will this pandemic encourage foes of democracy to step out and forward, force their will upon the country? It has happened many times before, and in the midst of this we must remember the conversation between Benjamin Franklin and another who asked if the new country would be a monarchy or a democracy. Good question, huh! His answer was that it will be what we make of it. The onus is on us, never dying, even as the pandemic levels society, bringing it almost to a halt and never mind recession, which I predicted way before the 'experts'. I fear worse than that and for a long time to come. Such a blow to the national and international streams of commerce, of buying habits, of even having the funds to buy anything other than basic survival needs, well, it will be a long time a comin' back. Unfortunate, but there it is. What was, what is, will change, morph into a new what will be - maybe. It is upon us to watch, act, and be strong.
Trump talks of it "washing through" but this will not come out in the wash. It will need lots of scrubbing, hard work, and many attempts, failures, and eventually, a quick eventuality at that, one hopes, we will have a vaccine - maybe. Even though some testing has begun, we are taking baby steps and there is a time lag of at least a year to eighteen months before there will be a vaccine. Distribution will not be a picnic. Remember when there was a shortage of flu vaccine, the long lines, the fights in that line, the fear, the angst? Well......
Experts are telling us “People need to be informed, but not afraid.” Not so easy to do. We are all humans and when faced with this awful crisis and sorry, folks, 1918 is looking like a twin to us now. Perhaps even better than our mess, and poo pooing that comparison will not change the facts on the ground. People are dying. Countries have literally 'locked' the population in their homes, going out only to doctors, for food, and no public transportation. We think things will remain open, but remember, robots are not the workers and clerks. People are and they are just as frightened, just as vulnerable, just as concerned and who is to make sure they come out into the open to serve the rest of the world! Not so easy. Not so smooth, if one thinks more than one or two steps ahead.
As for our 'leader', pardon the expression, what a disaster in itself. There is "even less clarity in an already fractured chain of command. “What begins every kind of mobilized response by the president — clear assignments and some sense that this is an absolute priority — none of that seemed to be ..." States and municipalities are left to fend for themselves, to scrounge for supplies, and the feds do nothing to ameliorate shortages and knots in the supply line. In fact,the damage has been done over the past few years and cannot be undone quickly.
So what to do? In my opinion, some fear is a good thing. It will make us think before we do something stupid. Perhaps it will change our habits for the future, insuring a healthier, more prepared society and will make us appreciate what was, what used to be what is, and what will be - maybe, just maybe, a better world. But fear and caution are necessary right now and so is helping your neighbors who are quarantined or seniors or have infants in the home. Shop for them when you go, make a phone call to them, bring them a book to their door. Together we can make a good future as we get through this awful present. Alone, well, let us not go there.
Monday, March 16, 2020
HOUSTON, OH, HOUSTON,,,,
Remember the early, unjaded times of space exploration? When we did not go ho hum and return to the game setup or the next TV show or flip through all the channels of cable? Remember the line of "Houston, we have a problem"? It became a national meme and entered the book of famous lines. (Not that there is such a book!)
Well, folks, time to call upon old lines, for Houston, do we have a problem. Strike that. Houston, we have many problems and there is no national smart person, no national hero, (other than perhaps Tom Hanks and his behavior upon finding that he was positive with the virus) for us to follow, to emulate, to keep us calm and confident that sometime, somehow, we will get a handle on this thing and life will return to whatever the new normal will be.
So now the latest. We hear that the US government apparently has been trying to gain total control over a vaccine for the virus. You think that is hard to believe? Do not be silly. Of course that could have happened. We have a greedy bunch of plutocrats, fatcats, running the show and all they can think of through this crisis is money. Money and how to gain more. Money and how to take advantage of this mess. And bet your bottom dollar that there would be either a cabal of a certain family or indeed only one dude from that conglomeration of know nothing, do nothing, selfish, ignorant, incompetent people at the heart of this new development. Think not? Oh, honey, I hope you are from Houston because you for sure have a problem!
Will we never learn? The whole damned world is in lockdown. The allowable airports are jammed as Americans and Europeans frantically try to get home. The lines at customs are long for inspection for the virus as we stand there crowded together and so generously share the 'wealth' of the virus! Plans have been changed and changed again, revamped, drastically reshaped and rethought and still there is great concern, great worry, within families as members test positive or cannot get tests, as quarantine becomes difficult, as supplies are disappearing and for those hoarders - shame on you! And as the holidays approach, holidays which usually mean family reunions - what to do? How to do? How to get there? How to get supplies? How to face quarantine in a strange place should one test positive? These are all important questions and yet, Houston, there appears to be no answers forthcoming.
On the other hand, perhaps, should we survive this mess intact, we can and will learn things and hopefully, we will internalize them, learn from them and fix the damn problem. Houston - we need answers. Good and thoughtful ones Workable ones. Sensible ones. And we need a return to proper funding of health needs rather than destroying them as Trump did to the National Pandemic Board in 2018. We need true smarts. We need humane people. We need, actually, generously giving people who think of others before selves and where the hell are we to find these?!
Furthermore, do not forget that we are in the middle of a crisis Presidential election, a time when the actual possiblity of a dictator taking over here, in our own country, is a distinct possiblity. It is that scary, folks. The other two branches of the government, our triad, have been corrupted, suborned into doing the will of the executive branch and that will is presently dangerous and demented! Severely so! But aaahhh, a silver lining. Biden has committed to choosing a female running mate. Madam VP. The names being bandied about are the ones I have previously mentioned - Klobuchar, Harris, James and even Warren is thrown in there. An outlier - Michelle Obama. I will stick with Klobuchar. She is steady, strong, can handle overinflated egos of subordinates, not afraid to do what must be done, and a strong person to take over should a crisis with the President happen. Maybe, just maybe....
In the meanwhile as we are told to hunker and bunker down, life can become tough, especially for a generation or two that have no memories of such times. But we can do it. We weathered the political crisis of 1968. We came through the deep abyss of the Vietnam War. We have met hard times and come through and we can do this one as as well. 9/11 did not break us nor the seemingly endless wars that followed. So yes, Houston, we have a problem and if DC has no truthful and helpful answers and advice for us, then Houston, in the form of all other Americans, we can come up with answers and with hope, that oh so important hope, that which has sustained humanity in the most horrific of times. Dig deep for that hope for it is there, somewhere. I just know that and so do you.
Well, folks, time to call upon old lines, for Houston, do we have a problem. Strike that. Houston, we have many problems and there is no national smart person, no national hero, (other than perhaps Tom Hanks and his behavior upon finding that he was positive with the virus) for us to follow, to emulate, to keep us calm and confident that sometime, somehow, we will get a handle on this thing and life will return to whatever the new normal will be.
So now the latest. We hear that the US government apparently has been trying to gain total control over a vaccine for the virus. You think that is hard to believe? Do not be silly. Of course that could have happened. We have a greedy bunch of plutocrats, fatcats, running the show and all they can think of through this crisis is money. Money and how to gain more. Money and how to take advantage of this mess. And bet your bottom dollar that there would be either a cabal of a certain family or indeed only one dude from that conglomeration of know nothing, do nothing, selfish, ignorant, incompetent people at the heart of this new development. Think not? Oh, honey, I hope you are from Houston because you for sure have a problem!
Will we never learn? The whole damned world is in lockdown. The allowable airports are jammed as Americans and Europeans frantically try to get home. The lines at customs are long for inspection for the virus as we stand there crowded together and so generously share the 'wealth' of the virus! Plans have been changed and changed again, revamped, drastically reshaped and rethought and still there is great concern, great worry, within families as members test positive or cannot get tests, as quarantine becomes difficult, as supplies are disappearing and for those hoarders - shame on you! And as the holidays approach, holidays which usually mean family reunions - what to do? How to do? How to get there? How to get supplies? How to face quarantine in a strange place should one test positive? These are all important questions and yet, Houston, there appears to be no answers forthcoming.
On the other hand, perhaps, should we survive this mess intact, we can and will learn things and hopefully, we will internalize them, learn from them and fix the damn problem. Houston - we need answers. Good and thoughtful ones Workable ones. Sensible ones. And we need a return to proper funding of health needs rather than destroying them as Trump did to the National Pandemic Board in 2018. We need true smarts. We need humane people. We need, actually, generously giving people who think of others before selves and where the hell are we to find these?!
Furthermore, do not forget that we are in the middle of a crisis Presidential election, a time when the actual possiblity of a dictator taking over here, in our own country, is a distinct possiblity. It is that scary, folks. The other two branches of the government, our triad, have been corrupted, suborned into doing the will of the executive branch and that will is presently dangerous and demented! Severely so! But aaahhh, a silver lining. Biden has committed to choosing a female running mate. Madam VP. The names being bandied about are the ones I have previously mentioned - Klobuchar, Harris, James and even Warren is thrown in there. An outlier - Michelle Obama. I will stick with Klobuchar. She is steady, strong, can handle overinflated egos of subordinates, not afraid to do what must be done, and a strong person to take over should a crisis with the President happen. Maybe, just maybe....
In the meanwhile as we are told to hunker and bunker down, life can become tough, especially for a generation or two that have no memories of such times. But we can do it. We weathered the political crisis of 1968. We came through the deep abyss of the Vietnam War. We have met hard times and come through and we can do this one as as well. 9/11 did not break us nor the seemingly endless wars that followed. So yes, Houston, we have a problem and if DC has no truthful and helpful answers and advice for us, then Houston, in the form of all other Americans, we can come up with answers and with hope, that oh so important hope, that which has sustained humanity in the most horrific of times. Dig deep for that hope for it is there, somewhere. I just know that and so do you.
Sunday, March 15, 2020
JUST ME AND YOU AND THE REST OF US
Okay. Full disclosure. It is bad. Worse than I thought. Israel is down to a limit of ten people together at a maximum. Italy and Spain are now in lockdown. There are places here in the USA that are almost that way. All those movies, novels and even non fiction re epidemics are now coming to fruition, to a reality for us. No, we do not have zombies but we do have questions re society and what will be with it in the future - and now.
How is a country to be run? How are 'essesntial' businesses to be open if there is no public transportation or drivers to operate said buses and trains? Where will the cabdrivers be? Who will drive the trucks from port to store, or farm to store? How do we replenish that which we import and how do we export? Who and how will we educate our kids, especially if the teachers are unavailable?
These are all existential questions and I believe I have not heard any answers worth trusting for reliability or common sense as of yet. Nobody seems to know anything and we have the worst leader at this time for us. He would be, is, terrible at any time, but at a time for crisis, wow, are we sunk, right down to the sub, sub basements of life.Worse, it is worrisome in the fact that he is always that close to pushing his authoritarian agenda, just waiting to impose it,and then, and then....
Will people stick together and keep a good and reliable society in a new world? Do we have a chance of returning to what is or has been termed normal? Even if this lasts for a year before we gain a handle on it - if we gain that handle? How do we insure that people are not left to die in their homes, starve, even as hoarders keep tons of needed supplies in their garages?! Did you see that picture?! Some people!
Go back hundreds and hundreds of years ago during the time the Black Plague wiped out so much of the population of Europe. It left the landowners bereft of field workers. It wiped out entire villages. It left crops rotting in the fields and no new ones being planted. It turned society upside down as the serfs now had the power of scarcity of labor to push requests for better living and working conditions even as the elite fought it, even as they died.
Slowly, slowly, the plague weakened and life began to restore itself, along with serious changes. The fatcats of the time pushed their own agenda and managed to return slavelike conditions to the serfs, though some managed to climb higher and the middle class, so important to society, began to prosper, grow, and build a different society. And like now, the wealthy supported the arts, cultural events, artists, painters, writers, even some scientists, medical advances took place, universities bloomed and a Renaissance began. People learned that plagues would return but they would also end and planned accordingly.
So here we are, just about in the same conditions, though we do have some more scientists, I believe, availaable even as the fool cut funds for the research that could have cut this modern day plague into manageable proportions. We need to hope but for now what do we do, in the present, even as we hang on with our toe nails, or fingernails, standing on the ledges of life.
From time immemorial people have realized that the world of Man and the world of Nature often reflect each other. Unrest in one caused or reacted with unrest in the other. Shakespeare wrote about it and just peruse his plays such as Macbeth, The Tempest, Julius Caesar. If that is not enough, refer back to Job, or to Jonah, who quieted the waves when he was thrown overboard.
That theme has always been there and just look around at us. Look at the weather extremes. Look at the weather predictions for the future. Look at what we have done to G-d's world - and ours. We were given a blessing, a gift beyond all value and see what we have done. Will we have an Abraham who will argue with the Lord to give us a chance, to not pull the plug, to find some good people, enough to keep the world spinning on its axis?
And if we do, if we find enough good people, then what? Will we learn from this or will we return to our old bad ways, step on people as we climb the ladder, ignore the needy, the weakest of society, demean our women, our children, despise our workers and continue to reject all those who do not mirror our own ways, our own beliefs. And for me, as a Jew, I wonder, will this poisonous anti Semitism ever end, or will it persist, even if there are few Jews around after the cataclysm of the day, of the times. Will we still continue to discriminate for color, for religion, for political belief, for anything and everything that annoys us?! Will we learn anything? Ever?
I hope and pray that this virus is corraled quickly and that we prepare for yet another and another and another as they come down the chute. Hopefully we will ease the situation we are now facing and set up parameters for the future, for a better and safer future. Hopefully within a month or two this will be tamed and life will return to normal, whatever that is. In the meanwhile, be careful, be safe, be watchful. And pray. Oh, lord, but do we need that!
How is a country to be run? How are 'essesntial' businesses to be open if there is no public transportation or drivers to operate said buses and trains? Where will the cabdrivers be? Who will drive the trucks from port to store, or farm to store? How do we replenish that which we import and how do we export? Who and how will we educate our kids, especially if the teachers are unavailable?
These are all existential questions and I believe I have not heard any answers worth trusting for reliability or common sense as of yet. Nobody seems to know anything and we have the worst leader at this time for us. He would be, is, terrible at any time, but at a time for crisis, wow, are we sunk, right down to the sub, sub basements of life.Worse, it is worrisome in the fact that he is always that close to pushing his authoritarian agenda, just waiting to impose it,and then, and then....
Will people stick together and keep a good and reliable society in a new world? Do we have a chance of returning to what is or has been termed normal? Even if this lasts for a year before we gain a handle on it - if we gain that handle? How do we insure that people are not left to die in their homes, starve, even as hoarders keep tons of needed supplies in their garages?! Did you see that picture?! Some people!
Go back hundreds and hundreds of years ago during the time the Black Plague wiped out so much of the population of Europe. It left the landowners bereft of field workers. It wiped out entire villages. It left crops rotting in the fields and no new ones being planted. It turned society upside down as the serfs now had the power of scarcity of labor to push requests for better living and working conditions even as the elite fought it, even as they died.
Slowly, slowly, the plague weakened and life began to restore itself, along with serious changes. The fatcats of the time pushed their own agenda and managed to return slavelike conditions to the serfs, though some managed to climb higher and the middle class, so important to society, began to prosper, grow, and build a different society. And like now, the wealthy supported the arts, cultural events, artists, painters, writers, even some scientists, medical advances took place, universities bloomed and a Renaissance began. People learned that plagues would return but they would also end and planned accordingly.
So here we are, just about in the same conditions, though we do have some more scientists, I believe, availaable even as the fool cut funds for the research that could have cut this modern day plague into manageable proportions. We need to hope but for now what do we do, in the present, even as we hang on with our toe nails, or fingernails, standing on the ledges of life.
From time immemorial people have realized that the world of Man and the world of Nature often reflect each other. Unrest in one caused or reacted with unrest in the other. Shakespeare wrote about it and just peruse his plays such as Macbeth, The Tempest, Julius Caesar. If that is not enough, refer back to Job, or to Jonah, who quieted the waves when he was thrown overboard.
That theme has always been there and just look around at us. Look at the weather extremes. Look at the weather predictions for the future. Look at what we have done to G-d's world - and ours. We were given a blessing, a gift beyond all value and see what we have done. Will we have an Abraham who will argue with the Lord to give us a chance, to not pull the plug, to find some good people, enough to keep the world spinning on its axis?
And if we do, if we find enough good people, then what? Will we learn from this or will we return to our old bad ways, step on people as we climb the ladder, ignore the needy, the weakest of society, demean our women, our children, despise our workers and continue to reject all those who do not mirror our own ways, our own beliefs. And for me, as a Jew, I wonder, will this poisonous anti Semitism ever end, or will it persist, even if there are few Jews around after the cataclysm of the day, of the times. Will we still continue to discriminate for color, for religion, for political belief, for anything and everything that annoys us?! Will we learn anything? Ever?
I hope and pray that this virus is corraled quickly and that we prepare for yet another and another and another as they come down the chute. Hopefully we will ease the situation we are now facing and set up parameters for the future, for a better and safer future. Hopefully within a month or two this will be tamed and life will return to normal, whatever that is. In the meanwhile, be careful, be safe, be watchful. And pray. Oh, lord, but do we need that!
Friday, March 13, 2020
NOT IN MY NAME
Reading the news yesterday and listening to an audio on a confirmed report, all I could do was think to myself, "Not in my name! Never in my name." It was a most shocking and horrific display of sheer barbaric thinking and behavior by a representative of the US government but that is not, will never be, my government. Please do not think this is done in my name, as a US citizen.
In a tent hearing, a traversty of justice in the first place, a place set up for distance immigration trials and decisions, a man was refused entry despite an official notice of an appointment, because he was not there, meaning available for the session. Why not? Simply because after being forced back into filthy and inhumane conditions in Mexico, he was kidnapped. That certainly makes appearances difficult! Just a tad!
Well, a lawyer for the government, supposedly our government, openly stated that the situation did not change anything, tough on the guy because it was his fault he was kidnapped, and that was not to be taken into account. I guess the guy was dumb enough to think that perhaps we would remember our history, our promise to the poor, the wretched, the oppressed of humanity, but we forgot, did we not? No excuse for missing the hearing. The judge was astounded!! A very unhappy camper. Gee, I wonder why!
Never can any of the egregious actions and behavior of this crazed government, of these misbegotten immigration adherents who see nothing wrong with following barbaric rules and orders, nothing of this is done in my name. I do not sanction it. I do not agree with it. It is totally unamerican and should be immediately stopped, but that is like asking for Trump to be a righteous leader - never ever will that happen!
So not in my name for any of his crazed and fractured behavior. His mind was definitely damaged pre Presidency and right now it appears as if he is definitely affected by the virus. He shook hands and hung around with an infected diplomat. So did Pence. So did the rest of his malevolent family. Did any get tested? OnlyLindsey Graham, a Senatorial example of wrong turns if ever there was one. At least he had the brains to test and self quarantine, but so what and so what for all the people around the country who need to be tested but no tests around!! No, this is not my government and not in my name for any of this ignorant and abusive behavior.
Where are our leaders in this crisis? Blaming it all on everyone else other than themselves and their lack of forethought, their unpreparedness and their uncaring behavior. Their callous behavior. Seriously, should they be infected, who runs the government? Even Jared cannot do this for he is not an elected official! So who then? Pelosi? Ahhhhh. Madame President. Sounds good to my ears and that, that would be in my name!O, yes!
In the meanwhile we continue to watch as the world shreds itself, as we get messages from oh, perhaps the beyond. Streets round the world are empty as the plague of the century hits the globe. It is eerie and frightening. A crazy 'dragon' storm of dust and flooding rains and howling winds hits the Middle East, first Egypt and then Israel. Anyone hearing a message for us? Are our days counted, our deeds examined and are we found wanting as was the ruler of Babylon? Do we need to send into the fire three young men to give us that warning? Or have we already sent in more than three victimes in our misguided and mismanaged wars, our violent streets? Time for a change?
Perhaps that change is coming for Trump has lost much credibility among those who voted for him in anticipation of a change and got chaos instead. He does not lead. He does not manage. He does not think. He does not care. He is demented, paranoid in his ranting about a 'coup' to overthrow the 'elected' President. There is no coup and he had better not be planning to use it to declare martial law throughout the land for he is definitely most capable of doing that. A fan of the people, of democracy, he is most definitely not.
Today, in this global health and economic crisis, people are looking for normal, for someone who knows what balance is and even as Biden is not the ideal candidate, he does represent normal times, a balanced mind and personality, one who will gather experts to advise, not tweet endlessly in illiterate messages, rant and rave falsehoods all the day long. A change back to the middle, back to humanity, back to environmental regulations to preserve the safetyof our air, land and water. A return to calm meetings. A return to allies andthe resounding turn away from the growing authoritarian behavior of the White House.
By the by, there is an old Polish proverb which states, "Where the Devil cannot go, he will send a woman." Aha! A woman candidate, at least for VP? Klobuchar? Harris?
Now that woud be in my name.
In a tent hearing, a traversty of justice in the first place, a place set up for distance immigration trials and decisions, a man was refused entry despite an official notice of an appointment, because he was not there, meaning available for the session. Why not? Simply because after being forced back into filthy and inhumane conditions in Mexico, he was kidnapped. That certainly makes appearances difficult! Just a tad!
Well, a lawyer for the government, supposedly our government, openly stated that the situation did not change anything, tough on the guy because it was his fault he was kidnapped, and that was not to be taken into account. I guess the guy was dumb enough to think that perhaps we would remember our history, our promise to the poor, the wretched, the oppressed of humanity, but we forgot, did we not? No excuse for missing the hearing. The judge was astounded!! A very unhappy camper. Gee, I wonder why!
Never can any of the egregious actions and behavior of this crazed government, of these misbegotten immigration adherents who see nothing wrong with following barbaric rules and orders, nothing of this is done in my name. I do not sanction it. I do not agree with it. It is totally unamerican and should be immediately stopped, but that is like asking for Trump to be a righteous leader - never ever will that happen!
So not in my name for any of his crazed and fractured behavior. His mind was definitely damaged pre Presidency and right now it appears as if he is definitely affected by the virus. He shook hands and hung around with an infected diplomat. So did Pence. So did the rest of his malevolent family. Did any get tested? OnlyLindsey Graham, a Senatorial example of wrong turns if ever there was one. At least he had the brains to test and self quarantine, but so what and so what for all the people around the country who need to be tested but no tests around!! No, this is not my government and not in my name for any of this ignorant and abusive behavior.
Where are our leaders in this crisis? Blaming it all on everyone else other than themselves and their lack of forethought, their unpreparedness and their uncaring behavior. Their callous behavior. Seriously, should they be infected, who runs the government? Even Jared cannot do this for he is not an elected official! So who then? Pelosi? Ahhhhh. Madame President. Sounds good to my ears and that, that would be in my name!O, yes!
In the meanwhile we continue to watch as the world shreds itself, as we get messages from oh, perhaps the beyond. Streets round the world are empty as the plague of the century hits the globe. It is eerie and frightening. A crazy 'dragon' storm of dust and flooding rains and howling winds hits the Middle East, first Egypt and then Israel. Anyone hearing a message for us? Are our days counted, our deeds examined and are we found wanting as was the ruler of Babylon? Do we need to send into the fire three young men to give us that warning? Or have we already sent in more than three victimes in our misguided and mismanaged wars, our violent streets? Time for a change?
Perhaps that change is coming for Trump has lost much credibility among those who voted for him in anticipation of a change and got chaos instead. He does not lead. He does not manage. He does not think. He does not care. He is demented, paranoid in his ranting about a 'coup' to overthrow the 'elected' President. There is no coup and he had better not be planning to use it to declare martial law throughout the land for he is definitely most capable of doing that. A fan of the people, of democracy, he is most definitely not.
Today, in this global health and economic crisis, people are looking for normal, for someone who knows what balance is and even as Biden is not the ideal candidate, he does represent normal times, a balanced mind and personality, one who will gather experts to advise, not tweet endlessly in illiterate messages, rant and rave falsehoods all the day long. A change back to the middle, back to humanity, back to environmental regulations to preserve the safetyof our air, land and water. A return to calm meetings. A return to allies andthe resounding turn away from the growing authoritarian behavior of the White House.
By the by, there is an old Polish proverb which states, "Where the Devil cannot go, he will send a woman." Aha! A woman candidate, at least for VP? Klobuchar? Harris?
Now that woud be in my name.
Thursday, March 12, 2020
SOOOOOOOO.......
......where do things now stand? In a word or two, things stand in a bad, no...terrible, situation. The world has begun to cut itself off into separate paranoid pieces of territorry and we, the USA, have followed right along. The sad thing about this is that all this supposed isolation is useless, even worse, for it will give some people a false sense of security even as the virus runs rampant through civilization.
The virus is here. It is everywhere, doing as most new viruses or strains of one, do and is spreading into people who have no antibodies against it. Some die. In this case, the death rate is 3.4%. Is it rising? We will not know until more time passes. But we should recognize that all our desperate and hamster running the wheel kind of tactics will do nothing other than increase the tension and worry.
It is here. There is no way to contain it at this point. What needs to be done is to recognize the truth and take steps to handle the crisis, the same one that Trump has poo pooed from the beginning, always several steps behind.
We should have had a plan in place. We did not. We should have had a stockpile of N95 masks, gloves, gowns, beds, isolation facilities, wards awaiting patients, but we did not. We knew about this virus years ago according to scientists but funding was cut and I bet you cannot imagine by whom. We should be speaking the truth about this damned thing, but we are not. Hence the confusion and the angst that it gives rise to and the stupid steps taken to address the problem.
Contrary to Trump calling this a foreign virus, that is ridiculous. It is not a nefarious plot by some vague enemy of ours. They, too, are suffering. It is not a revenge attack by former or mistreated and angry allies. They, too, are suffering. It is what it is. It is a virus, one of the many now threatening to overwhelm humanity as we crunch the world of animals and humans together, far closer than it should be, and as a rsult - COVID-19 and other viruses that have hit us. There have been before this and there will be more after this. The point is that we should prepare, could have prepared, but as Trump cut the science funding, we truly began to deepen the slit in our own throats, the one we self inflicted. And still, even as Dr. Fauci spreads and speaks the truth, Trump continues on his blundering and ineffective path.
In a game of international dominoes, they are beginning to fall, toppling one against the other. Saudi Arabia has a demented power crazed Prince who has thrown yet another right hook into the chin of humanity. An oil war? Now? When demand is shrinking as the economy shrinks? As layoffs are beginning to spread, including right here in the USA? We knew this was coming and all the tantrums Trump throws, roaring that Mnuchin should basically bury Epstein and the Federal Reserve Board will not help as there are simply no jobs, no work for these people to do and down they go. And all the other related jobs, the stores, the restaurants, the car dealerships, the amusement centers- all these will go to as people will not have the funds for it. Collateral damage will be terrible.
Worried about a bear market? Worried about a Recession, even a Great one? Feh! We are beyond that, and I worry about a Depression. I remember the stories my parents told me of the hunger, the less than bare necessities that people had - or did not. They spoke of the depressed state of the people, the hopelessness, the fear,and truly, the only reason that economic depression ended was WWII. Do we need another war? Dang, but I hope not! But with this dude in office who the hell knows what the future holds for us.
I believe that I am past the frightened for myself stage. I will do the best I can to stay safe but I truly believe that is a hopeless task for unless one has a bubble suit and knows how to eat only uncontaminated foods and use safe items, well, here we all are in the same soup bowl. Ain't no one getting out of it safely, avoiding that spoon coming to get us. What needs to be done is to change the ones at the helm of the ship of state. We need to get this man out and replace him with some thinking people who can find other things to do rather than play golf on a day the whole mess goes spiral here in the country.
We need help. Period. From whence does that help come? From ourselves, from our own initiative. From our scientists. And as the verse goes, when we look for that help in a time of distress, as we raise our eyes, look up, we know that G-d will play a role here - in our belief, in our behavior, in our survival and it does not matter by what name we call G-d, for it is the same entity.
So my friends out there, be safe, be wise, be calm, try to get home and be with and treasure family, and support our scientists in this crisis and in others that will follow. Choose wiser leaders. If we plan better for the next one there will be no need to panic, to carve the world up into pieces, no threat of turning into a Mad Max world. Be of courage. Have spirit and hope. And wash those hands!
The virus is here. It is everywhere, doing as most new viruses or strains of one, do and is spreading into people who have no antibodies against it. Some die. In this case, the death rate is 3.4%. Is it rising? We will not know until more time passes. But we should recognize that all our desperate and hamster running the wheel kind of tactics will do nothing other than increase the tension and worry.
It is here. There is no way to contain it at this point. What needs to be done is to recognize the truth and take steps to handle the crisis, the same one that Trump has poo pooed from the beginning, always several steps behind.
We should have had a plan in place. We did not. We should have had a stockpile of N95 masks, gloves, gowns, beds, isolation facilities, wards awaiting patients, but we did not. We knew about this virus years ago according to scientists but funding was cut and I bet you cannot imagine by whom. We should be speaking the truth about this damned thing, but we are not. Hence the confusion and the angst that it gives rise to and the stupid steps taken to address the problem.
Contrary to Trump calling this a foreign virus, that is ridiculous. It is not a nefarious plot by some vague enemy of ours. They, too, are suffering. It is not a revenge attack by former or mistreated and angry allies. They, too, are suffering. It is what it is. It is a virus, one of the many now threatening to overwhelm humanity as we crunch the world of animals and humans together, far closer than it should be, and as a rsult - COVID-19 and other viruses that have hit us. There have been before this and there will be more after this. The point is that we should prepare, could have prepared, but as Trump cut the science funding, we truly began to deepen the slit in our own throats, the one we self inflicted. And still, even as Dr. Fauci spreads and speaks the truth, Trump continues on his blundering and ineffective path.
In a game of international dominoes, they are beginning to fall, toppling one against the other. Saudi Arabia has a demented power crazed Prince who has thrown yet another right hook into the chin of humanity. An oil war? Now? When demand is shrinking as the economy shrinks? As layoffs are beginning to spread, including right here in the USA? We knew this was coming and all the tantrums Trump throws, roaring that Mnuchin should basically bury Epstein and the Federal Reserve Board will not help as there are simply no jobs, no work for these people to do and down they go. And all the other related jobs, the stores, the restaurants, the car dealerships, the amusement centers- all these will go to as people will not have the funds for it. Collateral damage will be terrible.
Worried about a bear market? Worried about a Recession, even a Great one? Feh! We are beyond that, and I worry about a Depression. I remember the stories my parents told me of the hunger, the less than bare necessities that people had - or did not. They spoke of the depressed state of the people, the hopelessness, the fear,and truly, the only reason that economic depression ended was WWII. Do we need another war? Dang, but I hope not! But with this dude in office who the hell knows what the future holds for us.
I believe that I am past the frightened for myself stage. I will do the best I can to stay safe but I truly believe that is a hopeless task for unless one has a bubble suit and knows how to eat only uncontaminated foods and use safe items, well, here we all are in the same soup bowl. Ain't no one getting out of it safely, avoiding that spoon coming to get us. What needs to be done is to change the ones at the helm of the ship of state. We need to get this man out and replace him with some thinking people who can find other things to do rather than play golf on a day the whole mess goes spiral here in the country.
We need help. Period. From whence does that help come? From ourselves, from our own initiative. From our scientists. And as the verse goes, when we look for that help in a time of distress, as we raise our eyes, look up, we know that G-d will play a role here - in our belief, in our behavior, in our survival and it does not matter by what name we call G-d, for it is the same entity.
So my friends out there, be safe, be wise, be calm, try to get home and be with and treasure family, and support our scientists in this crisis and in others that will follow. Choose wiser leaders. If we plan better for the next one there will be no need to panic, to carve the world up into pieces, no threat of turning into a Mad Max world. Be of courage. Have spirit and hope. And wash those hands!
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